


He Smelled Like Oranges

by currentlydissociating



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Angst, Car Accidents, Comatose Hinata Shouyou, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hospitals, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Major Character Injury, Sad Ending, Suicidal Thoughts, Suicide Attempt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-15
Updated: 2020-11-15
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:13:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 37,459
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27569593
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/currentlydissociating/pseuds/currentlydissociating
Summary: Kageyama and Hinata have been dating for a few months and their relationship is going extremely well. So well, in fact, that Kageyama feels like there must be something that's going to come along and ruin it. Unfortunately, he's right.
Relationships: Akaashi Keiji/Bokuto Koutarou, Hinata Shouyou/Kageyama Tobio, Kozume Kenma/Kuroo Tetsurou
Comments: 38
Kudos: 247
Collections: A Library of Unread Works, Haikyu!!, My favorite haikyuu fics, TikTok's Recommendations (Haikyu!!)





	He Smelled Like Oranges

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and kudos are appreciated!

Kageyama was happy. It may not sound like a big deal, but for most of his life he hadn't really focused in being happy, he'd just focused on being the best. This had resulted in him not enjoying his life as much as he could have. What had caused him to make this change? Shoyo Hinata. He'd first met Hinata in middle school when they played against each other in a volleyball match. After that they ended up going to the same high school and were enemies at first, but quickly became partners and friends. Then, Kageyama had started to fall in love with Hinata. It took a few months, but he finally had the courage to ask him out. Hinata had gleefully said yes and he'd found out later that Hinata had been wanting to ask out Kageyama as well. Their first date had gone amazingly, and Kageyama remembered it well. They'd gone to have a picnic on the beach and Hinata told Kageyama he didn't think he'd run into the water fully clothed. Kageyama had done it without a second thought, pulling Hinata in with him. They'd splashed around in the ocean for hours, dunking each other underwater and laughing. They'd only stopped once it was starting to get dark, and walked back to Kageyama's house with their picnic basket, soaking wet and shivering. Then they'd finished the night by changing into fuzzy pajamas, making hot chocolate, and cuddling up to each other while watching a movie. Hinata had fallen asleep on Kageyama's shoulder and Kageyama had run his fingers through Hinata's hair while listening to his steady breathing.

That was two months ago, and every day with Hinata since then had been just as perfect. Kageyama was appreciating his life more than he ever had, and he loved every second he got to spend with Hinata. Today, they had decided to go on a little coffee date after practice and then wander around the city for a bit. Neither of them could drive, so they walked together from their high school. Hinata was full of energy as usual and bounced along, talking energetically and pointing out any animal he saw.

"Look at that dog!" Hinata said, waving his arm towards the other side of the street, where a very small fuzzy creature that looked more like a cotton ball than a dog was being walked by its owner. Hinata was so absorbed by the dog that he wasn't paying attention to where he was going and accidentally stepped in front of the path of a bicyclist. Luckily, Kageyama was holding Hinata's hand, and he was able to pull Hinata back so he didn't get hit. Hinata bumped into Kageyama, seemingly oblivious to what had happened because he just continued talking about the dog, "Did you see it Kageyama? It was so cute. Maybe we should get a dog together."

Kageyama laughed, "I don't think we need a tiny energetic creature that doesn't listen most of the time. I already have you after all."

Kageyama expected Hinata to get a little upset at this, but he didn't, "Aw Kageyama, that's why it would be perfect! I really think we should. If we don't get a dog maybe we can get a different pet?"

Kageyama shrugged, "I'll think about it, but it would be difficult for us to own an animal together since we don't even live in the same house. Maybe we should wait until we graduate."

Hinata frowned, "I hate it when your arguments make sense," then he whipped his head around and his grin came back, "Look Kageyama, It's a squirrel!" Kageyama looked down at Hinata, he may be a bit of a dumbass, but Hinata was his dumbass and Kageyama wouldn't trade him for the world.

They reached the coffee shop pretty fast because about halfway there, Hinata had decided he wanted to race. Hinata hadn't let go of Kageyama's hand though, but they were relatively close to the same speed so Kageyama just had to keep up his pace. They called it a tie because they were next to each other the entire time and burst through the doors to the coffee shop at the same moment. They weren't exactly subtle about the way they came in so almost everyone in the coffee shop turned to look at them.

Kageyama ignored all the stares and pulled Hinata to the counter so they could order. Kageyama got a coffee with a lot of milk, and Hinata got a hot chocolate. Hinata didn't like coffee, which made Kageyama glad. Hinata was already so full of energy and Kageyama had no idea what would happen if Hinata put caffeine in his body, but Kageyama assumed it wouldn't be good. It would probably be something like taking care of a hyperactive toddler who'd just had sugar for the first time.

They decided to go outside and go for a walk while they had their drinks. Hinata sipped his hot chocolate and asked, "You've been pretty quiet today, what's on your mind?" Kageyama was honest with him, "I was just thinking about you." Hinata grinned, "About how much you love me?"

"No," Kageyama responded, "about how much of a pain you can be sometimes."

"Hey!" Hinata said, "It's not like you're perfect either."

"That's fair," Kageyama agreed, "but I'm a lot closer than you are. I'm taller for one thing." Hinata hit Kageyama's arm, "You know that's something I can't control!"

"Okay fine," Kageyama conceded, "Plus there are a few advantages to your height. Like the fact that I can do this," Kageyama leaned down and kissed Hinata's forehead. Hinata smelled like oranges. The reason for this was because a few weeks ago Kageyama had bought Hinata orange scented shampoo, joking that since he already looked like an orange he might as well smell like one too. Kageyama wasn't sure if Hinata was actually going to use it, but he did as soon as he took his next shower, and had continued using it ever since.

When Kageyama straightened up again, Hinata cheerfully said, "I can do that too!" He stood on his tiptoes and tried to kiss Kageyama back but he was way too short to reach Kageyama's forehead, so Hinata lifted up his hand and tried to pull Kageyama's head down so he could. Kageyama let him do it but right before Hinata kissed him, he moved his head up so Hinata kissed Kageyama's lips instead. Once they'd pulled away from each other, Hinata looked up at Kageyama, "I'm still determined to kiss your forehead. I'll do it when you least expect it so you can't stop me. You probably didn't let me do it just now because you know I'll do it better than you."

"There's no way you'd be able to do it better than me," Kageyama said and he kissed Hinata on top of his head again, nuzzling into his hair for a couple of seconds before standing up again.

Hinata didn't seem to mind this at all, but he did say, "I guess you'll just have to wait and see." They continued walking along, sipping their drinks, until Hinata spotted a toy store. He tugged on Kageyama's sleeve, "We have to go in there!"

Kageyama rolled his eyes, "You really do act like a child," but he didn't put up any fight against Hinata as he dragged Kageyama inside. Hinata seemed amused by everything they were selling. He picked up a toy car and made it drive all over Kageyama's chest. Then, he grabbed a toy airplane and started leaping around the store while holding it in the air. Kageyama sighed and walked over to the stuffed animals. He moved aside the ones in the front and found himself staring at the ugliest plush dog he had ever seen. It was perfect. He picked it up and bought it before he could convince himself not to, making sure Hinata didn't notice. He shoved the dog into his pocket, and went to find Hinata. Kageyama found him looking intently at a display of light up squishy balls.

He was holding two of them and as Kageyama approached, Hinata turned around and held them out, "I think we should buy all of these!" he announced.

Kageyama took them from him and placed them back in the container, "There is nothing you would use them for. Let's not get them." Kageyama began leaving the store and Hinata followed reluctantly, glancing back at the light up balls several times. They finished their drinks and threw them in the nearest trash can. Hinata laced his fingers through Kageyama's and pulled him along through the other people on the sidewalk. Hinata seemed determined to get somewhere, but Kageyama had no clue where that was, so he let Hinata guide him.

They arrived at an animal shelter.

"Hinata, what are we doing here? I told you we're not getting a pet together," Kageyama reminded him.

Hinata pouted at Kageyama, "You don't need to get so worked up. We're just here to look around, we don't need to get anything." Kageyama was still apprehensive, he knew that despite what Hinata said, he would ask for every single animal in that shelter.

Hinata pushed open the door and Kageyama's thoughts were confirmed. Hinata ran up to all the different cages, reaching his fingers through the bars and trying to pet everything. This turned out to be a very bad idea because not all of the animals wanted to be petted so Hinata got a few bites and scratches on his hands, but he didn't seem to mind. Kageyama stayed in one spot and became fascinated by a parrot. It could learn to repeat things so Kageyama spent the next few minutes training it to say something. After he was done, he called Hinata over.

"This is my favorite thing here," Kageyama told him, "look at what it can do, dumbass," he waited a moment and then the parrot squawked, "Dumbass! Dumbass!" Kageyama grinned, "See, it's perfect."

Hinata looked a bit worried, "Maybe not, I don't need multiple people calling me a dumbass every second of the day."

Kageyama's eyes widened in mock surprise, "But how will you remember that you are?" Hinata didn't respond, he just shook his head and walked back over to the dogs. Kageyama followed him, leaving the parrot, who was still repeating 'dumbass' over and over again. Kageyama hoped the workers at the animal shelter wouldn't hate him for it. Hinata kept going to up to each dog and asking Kageyama if they could get it, and when he said no, Hinata just went to the next one and the cycle repeated. Eventually, there weren't any more dogs left, so Hinata moved on to the cats. Kageyama quickly put his finger to Hinata's lips to tell him to be quiet.

"Look, I know you're going to ask for every animal in this shelter, but you already know my answer, so we might as well just leave already," Kageyama told him. He put his arm around Hinata's shoulders and pushed him back outside.

Hinata seemed disappointed, "Why are you so against animals Kageyama?"

Kageyama looked down at his feet, "Well, animals don't usually like me. I think they might be scared of me, I would like to get some sort of pet with you eventually, but I don't think I'd be good at taking care of it if it hates me, which it probably will," Kageyama reached into his pocket and pulled out the stuffed dog, "I did get you this though, it may not be the same, but at least a fake animal won't be frightened of me."

Hinata took it and examined it. Kageyama felt terrible, its fur was patchy, its eyes were lopsided, and it was missing part of its ear. Kageyama continued speaking, "It probably seems stupid, but I got that one instead of the others because even though it's a bit of a mess, it doesn't mean it's not good. Just like us." Hinata's eyes were watering, Kageyama wanted to die right then and there, "Oh, you hate it. That's fine, I knew it was dumb to get such an ugly one, I'm the worst boyfriend ever." Then, to Kageyama's surprise, Hinata rushed forward and gave Kageyama a hug, burying his face in Kageyama's shoulder.

"I love it," Hinata whispered, "and I love you. You're the perfect boyfriend, and if we ever do get a real pet, I'm sure it'll love you too."

"There's no need to get so emotional about it," Kageyama said, but he pressed Hinata in closer and smiled. Kageyama was so full of joy, Hinata really was the best person he knew. Kageyama would do everything in his power to stay with him for as long as he could. Kageyama hoped that Hinata would actually like him long enough for them to move in together and get a pet. Even if the pet hated him, it would mean Hinata didn't, and if he could be with Hinata forever that would be the best.

They stayed hugging until Kageyama pushed Hinata away from himself a bit so he could lean down and kiss him. Once they finished, Kageyama kept his face right in front of Hinata's and said quietly, "I love you too." He'd said it to Hinata many times before, but every time Hinata's expression got a little bit brighter and that always made Kageyama feel amazing. They continued walking down the street, looking through all the different store windows. As they walked Hinata tried to pick out a name for his new stuffed dog.

"Kageyama, what do you think it should be?" Hinata asked.

"It's not alive, it doesn't need a name," Kageyama responded, "Just call it dog."

Hinata pouted, "You're no fun. I think I'm going to call him Crispy!"

Kageyama glared at him, "Crispy?! That's so stupid! That's so much worse than dog."

Hinata held up the dog proudly, "I think it's perfect!"

Kageyama put his face in his hands, "Well I suppose you can call it whatever you want, but I still hate it."

Hinata gave Kageyama a shove, "You'll love it eventually."

"I'm pretty sure I won't," Kageyama said, and he shoved Hinata back, but he didn't use much force. Even so, Hinata stumbled and almost fell off of the sidewalk into the street. Kageyama grabbed him and pulled him close before that could happen.

"I'm sorry," Kageyama said breathlessly, "I didn't mean to do that."

Hinata's response was a bit muffled, because Kageyama was still holding him extremely close, "Don't worry about it, I would've been fine." Hinata pushed away so he could look up into Kageyama's face, "You don't need to look so frightened, I'm not a child."

"But it's still my job to take of you," Kageyama said, "You could've been hit by a car."

Hinata laughed, "That's unlikely, the drivers around here are pretty good and there aren't many cars out. The chances of me getting hit are very slim. I also have amazing reflexes!" to demonstrate he leapt up into the air and onto Kageyama, wrapping his legs around Kageyama's waist.

"That doesn't prove anything," Kageyama told him, "reflexes are all about unconscious movement."

Hinata grinned, "Well, then that's perfect. I move unconsciously all the time. Think about how much I've kicked you in my sleep."

"You've definitely done that a lot," Kageyama grumbled. Hinata beamed at him, "I know you don't mind it that much or you wouldn't let me stay in your bed so often." Then he leaned in and kissed Kageyama on the nose. Kageyama sneezed. He sniffled a bit, "I guess I'm allergic to you."

Hinata kissed him again, "Good. You're cute when you sneeze."

"I'm not cute doing anything, you're probably thinking about yourself," Kageyama corrected him.

"Nope, you're wrong, I'm pretty sure I can recognize cuteness," Hinata insisted.

Kageyama gave in, "You're probably right. You do see it every time you look in the mirror after all." He ruffled Hinata's hair and then changed the topic, "We don't have volleyball practice tomorrow, is there anything fun you want to do with our day off?"

Hinata seemed to remember something, "Oh yeah. I've been meaning to tell you, but I forgot, and got distracted. I was going to tell you yesterday when we were in the park, but then that big herd of ducks walked past. Do you remember that? Wait, is it called a herd or a flock?" Kageyama put a hand on Hinata's shoulder, which made him look back into Kageyama's face.

"Get to the point," Kageyama said.

Hinata shook his head as if to clear it, and then continued, "Anyway, Kenma and Kuroo are coming here tomorrow, and I was thinking we could do a double date with them. Please say yes, I already told Kenma we would be there."

"Yeah that sounds fine, but next time give me more warning, idiot. I'm a very busy man you know," Kageyama told him.

"No, I don't know, because you aren't that busy. That's why you're always hanging out with me," Hinata said.

Kageyama wanted to think of a witty response, but he didn't have anything, so he just punched him, "Come on, you're walking too slow."

They came across a big park, where something appeared to be going on. Kageyama didn't know what it was for, but there were little stands set up everywhere with people selling all sorts of items.

Hinata tugged on Kageyama's shirt, "Let's go over there! I want to see what's for sale." He started running across the grass, and Kageyama followed right behind him. Hinata stopped at a stand selling jewelry, and picked out a big chunky necklace that he promptly bought and put on Crispy.

"It's not real, it doesn't need to get dressed up," Kageyama said.

Hinata seemed upset that Kageyama would suggest such a thing, "I want him to look his best!" Hinata then went to the next stall over, that was selling strangely shaped gourds.

"Don't spend all your money," Kageyama warned. Hinata ignored him and Kageyama turned to the stand behind him. It was selling fresh fruit, and Kageyama did think that it looked quite delicious. He bought an orange, and wandered back towards Hinata, "Hey, dumbass!" Kageyama had gotten Hinata's attention and he came over.

Kageyama split the orange and gave half to Hinata. They began eating it together, and Kageyama thought it was one of the best oranges he'd ever had. He hadn't split it all that well so juice was dripping everywhere, but he didn't mind. After they finished, Kageyama threw the peel away, and they continued walking around the stalls. Hinata tried to slip his hand into Kageyama's but Kageyama pulled away, "My hands are sticky," he explained.

Hinata grabbed it anyway, "Mine are too, so it doesn't matter. What? Are you worried you'll get stuck to me? That wouldn't be so bad."

Kageyama squeezed Hinata's hand tightly, "Well if it does happen, you can't say I didn't warn you." Hinata wanted to buy everything they saw, so Kageyama spent most of his time convincing Hinata not to. The hardest thing to get him away from was a giant glass sculpture of a cactus.

"But I need it!" Hinata complained.

Kageyama grabbed him around the middle, and started carrying him away, "No you don't. What would you even do with that?"

Hinata struggled, "I would display it proudly in my room, gloating over everyone who didn't have one." Kageyama didn't let go of him. Hinata wriggled even more, "Crispy thinks I should have it. That's two against one."

Kageyama kept walking, "Crispy isn't real."

Hinata slammed his hands over the stuffed dog's ears, "Don't let him hear you say that!" Kageyama felt that he didn't need to dignify that with a response, and he just continued going until they were out of the rows of stalls and far away from the glass cactus. He set Hinata down gently.

Hinata crossed his arms and pouted. Kageyama nudged him, "Come on, you're acting like a child. You know that would be an unreasonable purchase."

Hinata continued acting upset, "It wouldn't be that unreasonable."

"Okay, then how much did it cost?" Kageyama asked. Hinata scuffed his shoe on the ground, then he said quietly, "10,000 yen."

Kageyama's eyes widened, "10,000 yen?! You don't even have that much money on you right now."

"The seller said that was a very good price!" Hinata defended.

"Of course he did! He was trying to get an idiot like you to buy it!" Kageyama yelled at him.

"Calm down, I didn't get it, so there's no point in criticizing me for something I didn't even do," Hinata commented. This was a fair point, Kageyama realized. He frowned, but didn't say anything else on the matter.

They decided to go grab dinner at a restaurant nearby. Neither of them was in the mood for sitting in the restaurant to eat, so Kageyama suggested that they go to the beach, like they did on their first date. Hinata brought up the fact that they didn't have a blanket, so they'd probably get sand in their food if they actually ate on the beach, so it might be better to go back home. After a few minutes, they thought of a compromise. They walked out onto a pier, sitting down on the weathered wood and dangling their legs over the water while they had dinner.

Hinata kissed Kageyama on the cheek, "I had fun today."

Kageyama smiled, "Me too." He scooted closer to Hinata and leaned his head on Hinata's shoulder. Hinata leaned on Kageyama as well, and they sat like that for a while, watching the sun slip down below the horizon.

They walked to Kageyama's house, since it was the closest to the beach. The entire time, Hinata was looking up at the stars, admiring how pretty they looked and calling out constellation names. The only thing was, he didn't know any real constellations so he was making up his own.

"Look Kageyama! It's the fireflies, and over there, that's the embers. Oh, another one," he pointed to a cluster of bright stars Kageyama recognized as the constellation Cassiopeia. "I like to call that one the Kageyama constellation, because it's pretty and bright, and like you, it can add a light even when darkness surrounds it. Oh, and over there that's the sparks."

Hinata continued listing other random things that glowed, but Kageyama wasn't listening. He was staring at Hinata's face. Was he going to brush over what he just said? It was so cute and sweet, and Hinata had just announced it without a second thought. Kageyama picked Hinata up and Hinata stopped talking about stars to look questioningly at Kageyama. Kageyama stared at Hinata's adorable face, looked in his perfect eyes.

Then said softly, "You know I love you right?" Then he leaned in a gave Hinata a kiss. He could feel that Hinata was smiling as he kissed Kageyama back, which made Kageyama's heart do a little flutter. It was stupid, they'd kissed so many times before, but it never got old, and Kageyama hoped it never would.

Hinata leaned back, "You usually aren't this affectionate. I'm normally the one that says I love you first and you just say it back. I've got to say though, I like this side of you." Hinata took Kageyama's face in his hands and kissed him again. Kageyama continued carrying Hinata. He knew Hinata could walk, but Kageyama just wanted Hinata to be close to him. It was only when they got to his house that Kageyama set Hinata down so he could unlock the door. They headed straight to Kageyama's room once they got inside. Hinata changed out of his clothes and pulled on one of Kageyama's t-shirts. They brushed their teeth and then climbed into bed and snuggled up to each other. Hinata liked to spread out while he slept, so he plopped himself on top of Kageyama and stretched out his arms and legs.

Kageyama wrapped his arms around Hinata and kissed him on top of the head, "Goodnight dumbass."

Hinata moved up to give Kageyama a kiss, then back down again so he could lay his head on Kageyama's chest, "Goodnight."

...

Kageyama slept well, and only woke up when the light coming through his window was bright enough to see through his closed eyelids. During the night, they had both changed positions so Hinata had slid off of him, and now he was right next to Kageyama, but his arm was across Kageyama's torso and his head was still on Kageyama's chest. Kageyama would never get tired of waking up with Hinata. He ran his fingers through Hinata's hair. Kageyama leaned down and nuzzled him, Hinata still smelled like oranges but it wasn't quite as strong as yesterday since Hinata hadn't just taken a shower. Kageyama was very comfortable and he loved cuddling with Hinata, but after a few minutes, he carefully moved Hinata's arm and head off of him. Hinata began to stir, and Kageyama froze, but Hinata just moved closer and didn't open his eyes.

Kageyama managed to get out of bed without waking Hinata up. He moved out into the kitchen and began cracking eggs into a frying pan. He wanted Hinata to wake up to a nice hot breakfast. Kageyama was no chef, but for Hinata he would do his best. He cooked some rice as well to go with the eggs, and got out a carton of orange juice, which he poured into two glasses. He set the table and put the food out on the plates. He would bring breakfast directly to Hinata in bed, but the last time he tried that, they'd ended up making a mess, so Kageyama thought it would be better this way.

He walked back into his bedroom and saw that Hinata had shifted again. He'd thrown the blankets off so Kageyama could see that Hinata was now spread out like a starfish on his back. Kageyama walked over and said quietly, "Good morning sleepyhead." Then Kageyama leaned down and kissed Hinata's cheek. Hinata didn't react at all so Kageyama continued kissing him. He moved down to Hinata's neck, and that's when Hinata's eyes fluttered open. He saw what Kageyama was doing and grabbed Kageyama's shirt to pull him into bed. Kageyama fell on top of Hinata, and Hinata began kissing Kageyama. Kageyama kissed him back, but then he stood and picked Hinata up, "Come on, dumbass, your breakfast is getting cold." Kageyama took him out to the table and set him down in a chair.

Hinata looked at his plate, "Wow Kageyama, the food actually looks edible."

Kageyama glared at him, "What you're supposed to say is thank you."

Hinata looked innocently at him, "But what if it's disgusting?"

Kageyama grabbed Hinata's chair and pulled it closer so he could get right in Hinata face, "It's not going to be, I made sure of it. I don't know why I even bother doing this stuff for you if you're just going to complain." He crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair.

Hinata reached over and pulled Kageyama's arms apart, "Come on, I'm just teasing you. You know you love me."

Kageyama rolled his eyes, "You're right, I do love you, but sometimes I don't know why."

Hinata grinned and began eating his breakfast, "Hey, this is actually really good!"

Kageyama let out an exasperated sigh, "I told you."

While they ate, Hinata told Kageyama all about his dream, which he liked to do every morning. Kageyama enjoyed this, because he never remembered his own dreams, and he just thought they sounded interesting. Apparently, Hinata had dreamed about going to an amusement park with Kageyama, where it was just the two of them so they could ride the rides as many times as they wanted. The only catch was, there we giant purple elephants everywhere that they had to avoid, otherwise they might get stepped on.

"Anyway, I think I would be fun to go to an amusement park together someday," Hinata finished. Kageyama nodded, that would be fun, he'd never been to one before, but they sounded great.

"We have summer break in a few weeks," Kageyama mentioned, "We could go to one then."

"Yeah!" Hinata said excitedly, "I'll hold you to that you know." Kageyama shrugged, "As long as we have a way to pay for it, I don't have a problem with that."

"We'll find a way," Hinata told him, "You can do anything with enough willpower." Kageyama disagreed with this statement, but Hinata said it so sincerely and with such enthusiasm, that he didn't want to say that out loud.

They finished up breakfast, and while Kageyama cleaned up, Hinata went to take a shower. He came out several minutes later, orange scented steam trailing behind him. He was also wearing Kageyama's clothes, which Kageyama didn't mind, but they were way too big on Hinata, so probably not the best to go out in. It meant that they'd have to stop over at Hinata's house before going on their double date with Kuroo and Kenma. Kageyama realized he should probably shower too, so he walked past Hinata, patting his wet hair, then grabbing some clothes and heading into the bathroom.

He turned on the water, it didn't need time to heat up since Hinata had just used it, so Kageyama immediately stripped off his clothes and stepped in. He grabbed the shampoo and began washing his hair. Kageyama had a couple different kinds of shampoo in his bathroom, which he normally wouldn't do, but he didn't want to use the orange scented one since he felt like that smell belonged to Hinata. Instead, he had a lavender one that Hinata had picked out for him, that Kageyama actually really liked. Kageyama was looking forward to the double date today. He didn't know Kenma and Kuroo that well, but Hinata always got excited when he saw Kenma and Kageyama loved seeing him happy. Plus, with Kuroo and Hinata there, he knew he wouldn't have to worry about keeping up conversation since they were both very talkative. Kageyama finished his shower and turned off the water. He stepped out and dried off before pulling on his clothes.

He opened the bathroom door and found Hinata waiting expectantly, "Kageyama! You took so long; I was so bored without you."

"I only took a few minutes, you're so impatient," Kageyama said, but internally he was happy that Hinata had missed him. It meant that Hinata really cared about him, which he already knew, but he still enjoyed being reminded of it. They decided to go to Hinata's house so he could put on clothes that fit him. It was still too early to meet Kenma and Kuroo but they could just kill time there. Hinata's house was just as interesting as Kageyama's, and usually more so if Hinata's family was there. Hinata set Crispy on a table by the door so he could 'guard the house' while they were away. Kageyama wanted to tell Hinata this was stupid, but he knew it would make Hinata upset, so he did it anyway, "You know that won't do anything. I think you're acting like Crispy is too real."

"I just think you're just jealous," Hinata told him.

"Jealous?" Kageyama asked, "Of a stuffed animal? I don't think so. There are so many things I can do that he can't. Like this, for example." Kageyama moved forward and tickled Hinata. Hinata began laughing uncontrollably.

"Hey, that's not fair, you know I'm extremely ticklish," Hinata managed in between his giggles.

Kageyama continued tickling him, "I won't stop until you say I'm better than Crispy." Hinata backed away but he fell on the couch, so Kageyama just crawled on top of him.

"Okay fine, I concede," Hinata chuckled, "You're better than Crispy, just stop tickling me." Kageyama stopped, then climbed on the couch next to Hinata and laid his head in Hinata's lap. Hinata immediately started playing with Kageyama's hair.

"You do like me better than the dog, right?" Kageyama asked.

Hinata seemed surprised, "What kind of question is that?!" He exclaimed, "Of course I like you better than the dog, you're my favorite person in the world!"

"I'm just double checking, I don't want someone else to win your heart, and you go off with them and leave me behind," Kageyama told him.

"Don't worry, I don't think I could ever love anyone as much as I love you. Especially not a stuffed animal," Hinata informed him. Kageyama reached up to pull Hinata's head down so he could kiss him. He knew he shouldn't get jealous so easily, but he couldn't help it, he couldn't imagine what it would be like if Hinata left him, and he didn't want to find out. If Hinata loved Kageyama as much as Kageyama loved him, there would be no issues, and Hinata had always told him this was true, but Kageyama always had the nagging feeling in the back of his mind that this was too perfect, he was too happy, and eventually, something would come along and ruin it.

Apparently, his thoughts showed on his face a bit because when Hinata looked at him he asked, "Are you alright, did you not like the kiss? I guess we'll have to do again until you're happy with it." He leaned down and kissed Kageyama again. Then he kissed him on the forehead, continuing to play with Kageyama's hair as he did so. Kageyama relaxed, he needed to stop stressing about things that hadn't, and may never, happen. Hinata grinned, "You look better already, I told you I was amazing at forehead kisses. I bet you're embarrassed to even suggest that I wasn't."

Kageyama felt the corners of his mouth turn up, "I don't know, I'm not entirely convinced, you'll just have to do it again."

They stayed on the couch kissing and talking, until they realized that they probably should be heading to Hinata's house, because they both knew they could stay like this forever, and they didn't want to accidentally lose track of time. Kageyama snatched a jacket from where it was laying on the floor of his bedroom, and him and Hinata walked out the door. Kageyama laced his fingers with Hinata's and they made their way in the direction of Hinata's house. Hinata, as always, was getting distracted by everything around them. This time, he seemed very interested in all of the bees that were flying around, "Do you like bees Kageyama?" he asked.

"Not really," Kageyama replied.

"Why not? They're really helpful you know, they pollinate flowers, they make honey, they-- ahhh!!" Hinata leapt to the side as a bee flew at him.

Kageyama couldn't help laughing, "I thought you liked bees."

Hinata was breathing rapidly, "I can like something and still be kind of scared of it. I'm with you after all." Kageyama narrowed his eyes. Hinata pretended to seem confused, "What? You don't like my comparison? Or are you just mad that it's accurate?" Kageyama tightened his grip on Hinata's hand, but didn't say anything. Hinata was most likely joking, he knew he could be scary, but it wasn't on purpose every time. He did like that he could scare Hinata a bit, because he could use that to his advantage, but he really hoped that the main thing Hinata felt when he looked at Kageyama, wasn't fear. Maybe he was afraid of him, maybe that was the only reason he was going out with him. No, that couldn't be it, Hinata was good at a lot of things, but being able to lie about his feelings, wasn't one of them.

"I can tell you're over thinking something," Hinata said, "Stop it, it just gets you worked up over nothing. Just try and relax, today is supposed to be all about having a good time. It's the weekend, we don't have volleyball practice, we're seeing Kuroo and Kenma, and we're together. There's nothing bad about any of that so quit being stupid when you don't have to be." Hinata was right, like he usually was when it came to how Kageyama was feeling. He didn't understand how Hinata could read him so well, and he didn't know if it was a good or bad thing, but he usually didn't mind it. It made Kageyama feel better when he was worried over being the best at everything, because Hinata always assured him he was already perfect the way he was. Kageyama had once asked Hinata if it annoyed him to do this so much, but Hinata had just smiled and said he would never get tired of making Kageyama feel loved.

"Alright fine, dumbass, but you know not thinking isn't my strong suit, it's yours," Kageyama told him.

"Hey!" Hinata complained, "I think just the right amount, you should take notes and try being like me sometime."

"I would never do that, because you're already the best at being you, that's the one competition I'll admit I can't win," Kageyama responded.

"Well, you're right about that," Hinata said.

After a few more minutes they reached Hinata's house, and before they could even walk up the driveway, the front door opened and Natsu ran out. She reached them and hugged Kageyama's legs. Natsu loved Kageyama, but Kageyama didn't know why. He didn't feel like he'd done anything to deserve it, he was just nice to her, but who wouldn't be? She was so cute; it was impossible to be anything but nice. Kageyama was happy she liked him though, because it made him feel like he was making a good impression on Hinata's family. Kageyama picked her up, so she would detach from his legs, and they walked inside together. Kageyama followed Hinata into his bedroom, and set Natsu down. He sat on the edge of Hinata's bed, and watched him dig through his dresser.

Natsu scrambled up next to Kageyama. Something she had in common with her brother was that she loved playing with Kageyama's hair, and now it was reachable for her. She pulled out some hair ties, Kageyama had no idea where'd she got them, but girls always seemed to have them on hand. She began making tiny ponytails all over Kageyama's head. Hinata finished getting dressed, turned, and saw what was happening. He tried, and failed, to stifle a laugh, "Wow, Kageyama you look great."

"Don't make fun of me!" Kageyama yelled at him.

"I'm not," Hinata said, now not even trying to pretend he wasn't grinning, "I'm just worried you'll get all the attention when we go out and there won't be any left for me."

Kageyama smirked, "Did you hear that Natsu? He wants his hair done too."

"Yay!" Natsu exclaimed. She beckoned Hinata over, he didn't complain, he just kept laughing and dropped himself onto the bed with her and Kageyama. Natsu handed some hair ties to Hinata so he could finish Kageyama's hair while she did his. Soon enough, their hairstyles were completed and they went to go look at themselves in the mirror. Kageyama thought he looked like a porcupine and wanted to get rid of it immediately, but Hinata had a different opinion.

"Wow, we can really pull off anything, can't we?" He said happily.

In response Kageyama patted Hinata on the head and said, "You can say that, but one thing's for sure, I'm not wearing this out to lunch."

Hinata pouted, "Aww, but Kageyama, Kuroo would love it."

Kageyama grimaced, "That's what I'm afraid of." He pulled the hair ties out of his hair, much to Hinata's and Natsu's disappointment, and set them on Hinata's dresser. His hair now was very messy and spikey and he had to flatten it back down again before he was happy with it. Hinata, on the other hand, left the hair ties in.

"Are you really going to keep them in for our double date?" Kageyama asked.

"I don't see why I shouldn't," Hinata replied.

"I do," said Kageyama, "Please Hinata can we try to look like adults for once?"

"Hey, I'm the only adult here, and I think it's perfectly acceptable," Hinata pointed out. This was true, Hinata had turned 18 a couple weeks ago, but Kageyama had to wait until December until he was.

"Just because you're an adult, it doesn't mean you act like one," Kageyama retorted.

Hinata stuck out his tongue, and began taking the hair ties out, "Fine. Whatever you say, your majesty."

"You know I don't like it when you call me that," Kageyama snarled.

"That's exactly why I did it. What would you prefer, your Highness, your excellence, your grace, my king?" Kageyama could take a lot, but those types of nicknames were the one thing he really despised. Kageyama was very upset, and he was about to communicate this with Hinata, when Natsu leaped off the bed and stood between them. It didn't do much since she was so much shorter than either of them, but they looked down at her anyway.

"Guys, it's not a big deal, stop fighting over it. I thought you two were in love, but this really doesn't seem like it." Kageyama paused, Natsu was right, he had overreacted.

"Alright I apologize. I really hate being called that, I won't do anything because it's you, but if you were anyone else, you would be dead right now." Kageyama said through gritted teeth. Natsu seemed satisfied with this and left the room.

"Wait a minute, you aren't going to make him apologize?" Kageyama called after her.

"He didn't do anything," she said before she was out of earshot.

Hinata glanced at Kageyama, "We still have a while before we need to leave to meet up with Kenma and Kuroo. What do you want to do while we wait?"

Kageyama shrugged, “I don't know, whatever you want."

Hinata gave him a sly look, "I have an idea but I'm not sure how much you'll like it. Have I ever told you I'm amazing at doing makeup?"

That was not what Kageyama expected to hear, "What? Why?" he asked.

Hinata smiled, "I learned so that I can help Natsu with her makeup when she gets older." That was kind of sweet, Kageyama thought. Hinata was such a thoughtful person.

"Alright, you can do my makeup," Kageyama said, "I did say anything you wanted after all."

Hinata clapped his hands together, "Wonderful!" He opened a drawer in his desk and revealed a ton of makeup. He began pulling things out, "So I'm thinking kind of a goth look on you would be nice. I don't think you'll let me put on black lipstick, but I'm definitely going heavy on the eyeliner. Your skin is already really good so I don't think you need any concealer or anything." He motioned for Kageyama to sit down on the bed and positioned him so he was still kind of upright, but mostly leaning back against the pillows.

"This will give me better lighting," Hinata explained before straddling Kageyama and leaning in. After several minutes, Hinata sat back and said, "Okay, it looks all done." Kageyama turned to see himself in the mirror. It actually looked really good. Kageyama had never worn makeup before, but now he was considering doing it again at some point. Hinata had given Kageyama some pretty purple eyeshadow and he had not been lying when he said he would use a lot of eyeliner, but thankfully, Kageyama didn't look like a raccoon, it just drew more attention to his eyes. Kageyama looked back at Hinata, who had started doing his own makeup.

"It's not bad," Kageyama told him.

Hinata looked up, "Not bad? That's the best you can say? I think it looks amazing."

"Yeah, but that might just be because it's on me," Kageyama told him.

"You might be right," Hinata responded with a grin. Kageyama watched Hinata finish his makeup. Hinata's look was a lot different than Kageyama's. He had done a gradient from yellow to orange with his eyeshadow, and then added sparkles around the edges. Wow, Hinata was so attractive. Kageyama took Hinata's chin and pulled him in for a kiss.

"You're so cute," Kageyama told him.

Hinata set down his brush, and climbed on top of Kageyama, "You are too." Kageyama put his hands on Hinata's back and brought him in closer. The moment was ruined abruptly though, because an alarm rang out from Hinata's phone. Hinata sighed and got off the bed to turn it off, "Sorry about that. It does mean we should be going though. It'll take us a bit to get there since we have to walk."

Kageyama sat up, "Alright, let's take off the makeup and head out."

"I was thinking we'd wear the makeup. You didn't want to do your hair after all so I think you should agree to this," Hinata said.

Kageyama didn't need much convincing, "I guess we can."

Hinata let out an excited gasp, "Really? That's great! Come on, let's go!" He grabbed Kageyama's wrist and pulled him off the bed. Then sped through the house towards the front door. Natsu was sitting in the living room watching tv, so she waved goodbye as they left. Kageyama hadn't been ready for Hinata to dart off like that, so Kageyama was being dragged behind Hinata, but trying to stop him. He planted his feet firmly on the ground and almost fell over when Hinata was forced to stop, because he was pulling on Kageyama as hard as he could.

Kageyama tried to steady himself and catch his breath, "Hinata, you dumbass! We aren't wearing any shoes!"

Hinata looked down and seemed surprised by the sight of his bare feet, "Oh, you're right." Kageyama loved Hinata, but he was a bit of a moron sometimes. He turned around and marched back towards the house. Natsu seemed surprised to see them again, but she seemed too distracted by her show to ask any questions. Hinata got some socks and a pair of sneakers and they both pulled on their shoes. Hinata looked at Kageyama, "Is that everything?"

"I think so," Kageyama replied.

"Okay, take two!" exclaimed Hinata, opening the front door again. He ran back outside, Kageyama keeping up right beside him.

"You haven't even told me where we're going," Kageyama mentioned in between breaths.

"We're going to a cat cafe nearby. Apparently, since they've been at college together, they go there every week or so and they wanted to show us!"

"A cat cafe?" Kageyama questioned, "Why do they like it so much?"

"Well, they have favorite cats they like to visit. They're even thinking about adopting one together after they finish college. They can't get it right now because they aren't sure if they can't afford a pet yet."

Kageyama nodded, "That's to be expected, they are college students after all." Hinata continued telling Kageyama what he knew about the cat cafe and what type of food they had as they ran. Luckily, the cafe was only a couple miles away and they got there in less than 20 minutes. They stopped outside, both panting slightly.

Hinata looked up into Kageyama's face, "Good, your makeup held up well. How does mine look."

Kageyama checked Hinata's face, which was perfect as always, "It looks great."

Hinata glanced around, "I don't know if Kuroo and Kenma are here yet. We agreed to meet at noon and we're a few minutes early so it might be a little bit."

Then Hinata's eyes widened and Kageyama was about to ask what was wrong, when he felt a hand on his head and a familiar voice said, "Hi guys! It's been a while. It's nice to see you again."

Kageyama removed the hand from his head and turned around, "Hi Kuroo."

Kuroo grinned broadly at them, "So, are we going to stand here all day, or are we going inside?" He pushed open the door and they all traipsed inside. They found a table and sat down. Kuroo held up his hands, "Okay, before we say anything else, I just wanted to say that your makeup looks amazing and I feel like Kenma and I should have done some too. Isn't that right?" He nudged Kenma who was looking at his phone.

Kenma looked up, "I guess."

"That's his way of saying an enthusiastic yes," Kuroo explained.

"Hinata did it," Kageyama told them, "I never would've worn it otherwise."

"Well, I'm glad you did," Kuroo said, "You should wear makeup more often."

Kageyama didn't like all of this attention he was getting, so he decided to change the subject, "How has college been for you two?" Kageyama asked.

To Kageyama's surprise, Kenma answered this question, "It's been fine. I would be failing if it weren't for Kuroo, so I'm lucky he's there to help me."

Kuroo put his hand on Kenma's shoulder, "Hey, you're really smart you just don't direct it towards schoolwork."

Hinata looked at Kageyama, "It's not like that for me, Kageyama is stupid too, so we can't help each other with anything."

"You know, our college is close enough to you, that we could get together and have a study group once a week or so. I don't know what you guys are doing next year, but it might help you with finals," Kuroo suggested.

"I'll pass," Kenma said, "I refuse to do extra work for no reason."

"I don't blame you," Hinata told him, "I hate schoolwork. It takes time I could use playing volleyball, or hanging out with Kageyama, or both. Although the study group sounds good. It's hard for us to find tutors, because we're so bad at learning."

"Speak for yourself," Kageyama corrected him, "I'm not bad at learning, everyone else is just bad at teaching me."

"You know who else could join the study group," Kuroo interjected, "Akaashi and Bokuto. They're at college with us, I don't know if you knew that."

"Yeah I did," Hinata responded, "Kenma told me, because he was telling me about how Bokuto's high energy was a lot to handle." Hinata looked at Kenma, "Wait, I'm high energy, and you like me."

Kenma shrugged, "That doesn't mean I want to be around you 24/7. Bokuto comes over all the time, so I can get a little tired of him." Kenma then squinted his eyes at something outside of the cafe, "Oh, speak of the devil." They all turned in their seats and saw Bokuto pulling Akaashi through the door of the cafe. Akaashi was resisting and they seemed to be having a bit of a disagreement.

"They don't want us there, or they would've invited us," Akaashi was telling Bokuto.

"I'm sure they just forgot, who wouldn't want us to join them?" Bokuto responded. He was able to get Akaashi through the door and they came over to where Hinata, Kageyama, Kenma, and Kuroo were sitting and Bokuto pulled up a couple more chairs, "Hey hey hey! Have you ordered yet?"

Kageyama opened his mouth to speak but Kuroo got there first, "What are you doing here?"

Bokuto sat down, "What do you mean? I'm here to have a good time."

Akaashi put his head in his hands, he'd clearly gone through things like this before, "Can you please let us stay for a while? Bokuto is really dead set on it."

No one raised any objections, but Kenma asked, "We go on double dates with you so often, why is Bokuto so intent on coming this time?"

"Because Hinata and Kageyama are here!" Bokuto said as he gave Kageyama a hug. Kageyama stiffened, why did Bokuto choose to sit next to him? Though he did have to admit that Bokuto gave good hugs.

"Anyway, you didn't answer my question," Bokuto continued, "Have you ordered yet?" Hinata shook his head, and right at that moment, a server showed up to see what they wanted. Kuroo and Kenma were able to decide immediately, Kenma because he apparently got the same thing every time, and Kuroo because he closed his eyes and pointed at the menu to decide. Coincidentally, they ended up getting the same thing. Everyone else took a little longer to pick, but soon enough, they had all ordered. Bokuto looked at Kageyama and Hinata, "I love the makeup! Who did it?"

Hinata laughed, "I did."

Bokuto leaned over the table so he could get nearer, "Can you do my makeup?"

Hinata smiled, "Sure! Next time we hang out I'll bring my makeup stuff." Bokuto and Hinata began talking about what would look best on Bokuto. Kageyama was sitting in between them, but he wasn't interested in what they were saying. He wanted to be talking to someone, but he also didn't. He didn't really know any of them that well so he knew it would be awkward. Kageyama wasn't good at friends, which is why he didn't have any. What he really wanted was to get away from everyone and go home to cuddle with Hinata. He didn't understand why he felt like this, usually it was easy to spend time with Bokuto and Kuroo, but right now something felt off.

"I'm going to the bathroom," Kageyama announced. No one responded but they seemed to acknowledge him. It took him a minute, but he found the bathroom. Fortunately, no one else was there. He leaned on the counter and looked at himself in the mirror. You couldn't really tell anything was different from his face, so he hoped the others wouldn't think anything was wrong. He just needed to be alone for a few minutes, then he could go back and try to join the conversation. He thought about splashing some cold water on his face but he didn't want to mess up his makeup. He took a deep breath, he wished he was better with people. The only person who he really felt like he could talk to was Hinata. Just then, the bathroom door opened, Kageyama quickly stood up and tried to regain his composure. Then he saw it was just Hinata and he relaxed.

Hinata came over, "Are you alright? Kenma thought I should check on you."

"Kenma?" Kageyama asked.

"Yeah, he thought you might be having some social anxiety. He gets it a lot and he thought he recognized it in you."

Kageyama retreated slightly, "Wait, does this mean everyone is worried about me? Because I'm fine! I just needed a moment by myself."

"No, no," Hinata said hurriedly, "Only Kenma and I were talking about it. The others probably think we're making out right now or something."

"We could be you know," Kageyama suggested.

Hinata hesitated, "I would like to, don't get me wrong, but first I need to make sure you're okay. I wasn't expecting Bokuto and Akaashi to show up, if this is too much for you, we can go home." Hinata moved forward and gave Kageyama a quick kiss then pulled him into a hug, "Look, I know you want to act all tough, but you have to tell me what you need so I can help," Hinata whispered into Kageyama's chest.

Kageyama pulled him in tighter, "I think I can go back out, but can I move my chair so I'm between you and Kenma instead? I just don't know Bokuto and Akaashi that well, so I'd prefer not to sit next to them."

"Of course," Hinata responded, he gave Kageyama another kiss and they left the bathroom. They sat down again, and saw that their food had arrived.

Kuroo winked at them, "Did you have a good time in the bathroom?"

"Wouldn't you like to know," Kageyama answered.

They began eating, the food was really good, just like Kuroo and Kenma had said. All of the food was cat shaped or cat themed and they were served on plates with cats painted on them. This meant that everyone had to see what type of cat they got. Kuroo's had a calico cat that was sitting in a tree, Kenma's had a grey cat that was playing with a ball of yarn, Bokuto's had a dark brown cat that appeared to be trying to run off the plate. Bokuto was very happy about this when he saw that Akaashi's had a white cat with grey tufted ears that was running towards Bokuto's. Kageyama looked at his plate, it had a small orange cat chasing a bird. Hinata's had a black cat that looked more like a ball of fur with two big yellow eyes. These dishes were adorable, and Kageyama realized that there was plates you could buy that looked just like them on the other side of the cafe. There were also things like mugs and measuring cups. He made a mental note to go over there before they left. If nothing else, he was getting the plates.

"So, do you guys have any plans this summer?" Bokuto asked, "Because if you don't, let's do this again!" Kageyama felt Hinata looking at him, he tried not to pay attention to it.

Kuroo answered Bokuto's question, "We were discussing getting together before school is over and doing a study group. Would you be interested in that?"

"Yeah!" Bokuto exclaimed, "We can help out Hinata and Kageyama. What do you think Akaashi?"

"I think you mean Kuroo and I can help them. You barely scraped by in high school, so no offense, but I don't think there's much you can do. It's more likely Kuroo will be helping you with your classes."

Bokuto's level of excitement didn't change, "That's fine with me!"

Kuroo grinned, "It's a plan then. Is everyone free next weekend? Kageyama could come meet us at the campus and we can go back to Kenma's and my apartment." Kageyama agreed to that plan, it would probably be better around them when they were all studying and didn't have to be right next to each other. Besides, he really did need help in school so it was a good opportunity. Everyone approved of that idea, and since that was settled, the subject changed.

Kuroo began talking about his chemistry class, which Bokuto immediately stopped, "Kuroo, it's the weekend, nobody wants to talk about school right now."

"But it's really interesting," Kuroo protested, "I learned that there's a chemical--"

"I don't want to hear about it. Unless it's a chemical that'll help improve someone's volleyball skills," Bokuto interrupted again, "Not that I would need it, did I tell you guys about the spike that I did the other day?" Apparently, he had, because Kuroo and Kenma nodded, and Akaashi hung his head.

Hinata, on the other hand, bounced up and down in his chair, "No you didn't! Tell me all about it! Can you teach me too?!"

Bokuto laughed, "Well it was really cool." He continued describing the spike for the next several minutes, but Kageyama stopped paying attention.

They all finished eating, and after they paid their bill, they went over to the area the cats were kept. They walked in and Kenma pulled Kuroo over to a brown and white speckled cat, Hinata and Kageyama followed them, but Bokuto had found an extremely fluffy white cat and was begging for Akaashi to let him get it.

"This is Peanut Butter," Kuroo told Kageyama and Hinata, "He's the one we're hoping to get soon. We've been saving up and we think we'll be able to adopt him in a few weeks."

"I wanted to change his name," Kenma explained, "but Kuroo wouldn't let me."

"What if he gets confused!" Kuroo said indignantly.

"He's a cat," Kenma sighed, "He doesn't respond to Peanut Butter anyway." Kenma picked the cat up, and Kuroo scratched its head. Hinata tugged on Kageyama's sleeve, "We should get a cat."

"We talked about this yesterday," Kageyama said, "We need to at least be living together before we get a pet."

"Okay, we'd better move in together when we go to college," Hinata told him.

"That's fine with me," Kageyama agreed, "It just means I'd get to see you more, and I have no issue with that." Hinata pulled Kageyama down to kiss him.

"Get a room you two," Kuroo turned to Kenma, "Why won't you let me be that sickeningly cute with you in public?" He tried to give Kenma a kiss, but Kenma buried his face in Peanut Butter. Kuroo was not deterred and gave Kenma a hug and a kiss on the head. Bokuto and Akaashi wandered over to them, Bokuto was still holding the fluffy white cat.

"We're adopting a cat," Akaashi said in a monotone voice, "I didn't really want to, but Bokuto wouldn't shut up about it, so here we are."

Bokuto petted the cat happily, "I love her so much already!" They walked off so they could find a worker and fill in the adoption papers.

"Do you think they're the right people to own a cat?" Kageyama asked skeptically.

Kuroo waved his hand, "Akaashi will make sure it has a good home, and Bokuto will probably just pet it a lot. I think it'll be fine."

Akaashi and Bokuto came back a couple minutes later with the cat in a pet carrier.

"I think we're going to head out now," Akaashi informed them, "I don't think it would be a good idea to walk around with the cat for long. I want to let her out soon, and we still need to buy supplies for her. There is a store near here that sells that stuff, so that's where we're going." They said their goodbyes and then left the cafe.

"Do you guys want to go somewhere else?" Kuroo asked, "There's a really good frozen yogurt place across the street, if you want some dessert."

"Can we Kageyama?" Hinata begged, "I love frozen yogurt."

"Alright," Kageyama responded, "but I have to do something first." He walked back I into the other part of the cafe and purchased the cat plates.

Hinata got very happy when he saw what Kageyama had bought, "Wow! We should eat off of those every day!" Kageyama ruffled Hinata's hair, "I'm glad you like them."

They all walked across the street to the frozen yogurt place. The inside smelled very sweet, which Kageyama enjoyed. There were many different flavors of frozen yogurt, and Kuroo decided to get the strangest one he could find. It turned out to be strawberry-jalapeño, Kageyama gagged when Kuroo told him what it was.

"Kageyama, you can't say much, you get milk flavored popsicles!" Hinata said.

"Those are actually good!" Kageyama defended. Hinata got chocolate, and put on tons of toppings, including a large number of gummy bears. Kuroo saw what he was doing, and followed suit. Kageyama and Kenma both got vanilla, Kageyama added crushed Oreos and Kenma had Andes mints. Kuroo and Hinata seemed confused by this.

"That's all you're getting?" Hinata asked.

"Yeah," Kenma said.

"Not everyone wants to ruin their frozen yogurt with all those mixing flavors, dumbass," Kageyama told him.

"I think you just aren't as creative," Hinata retorted. They paid for the yogurt and sat down at one of the tables outside.

Hinata began gnawing on a mound of cold gummy bears, and Kuroo tentatively tried his strawberry-jalapeño yogurt, and smiled with satisfaction, "It's not as bad as I thought it would be!"

"You know, it's a novel idea, but maybe you could get a flavor you actually know you'll enjoy next time," Kenma said sarcastically.

Kuroo put his arm around Kenma's shoulders, "Aw, where's the fun in that? I like to live life on the edge."

Kenma sighed, "Kuroo, how many times do I have to tell you? Getting a weird frozen yogurt flavor is not 'on the edge,' it's just stupid."

"It could be, what if it turns out I'm allergic to jalapeños or something. I could die, and you would live with that guilt forever."

Kenma rolled his eyes, "I think I can manage." Kuroo continued eating his frozen yogurt, and offered to let anyone try it, but only Hinata wanted to. He took a very big bite, and immediately regretted it when he realized that it was spicier than he'd originally thought. He swallowed with difficulty and ran off to get some water.

Kuroo leaned towards Kageyama, "You haven't said much tonight, how are you doing?"

Kageyama thought about that, "Not bad honestly, I only came for Hinata, but it hasn't been miserable to see you guys."

This didn't seem to be the answer Kuroo was expecting, "Well you certainly know how to speak your mind. Maybe if you spend more time with me you can see that I'm a pretty amazing guy, Kenma can attest to that."

Kenma shook his head, "I don't think I will."

"He's just kidding," Kuroo told Kageyama, "He wouldn't know what to do without me."

"The reverse is true too," Kenma added.

"That's why we can never break up," Kuroo said. Kageyama didn't know if it was like that for him and Hinata. They hadn't known each other their whole lives like Kuroo and Kenma, but now that they were together, Kageyama would never want Hinata to go. He wasn't sure if Hinata felt the same way, but he hoped so very much. Hinata came back to the table, drinking from a big glass of ice water.

"I feel much better now," Hinata informed them. He looked at Kuroo's frozen yogurt warily, "I'm not going to have any more of that though." He went back to his wad of gummy bears. The rest of them finished and Hinata was still working on chewing through them all, though there were significantly less than before.

Kageyama stopped him for a second, "You don't have to finish them all."

"Is that a challenge?" Hinata asked.

"No, it's good advice," Kageyama corrected him. Hinata set his spoon down, "Aright, I am starting to feel sick."

They all stood up and got rid of their dishes.

"Well, I guess it's time to part ways," Kuroo said, "We'll see you again soon though. Don't forget about the study group." Kageyama and Hinata told him that they wouldn't but Kuroo promised he'd text them about it anyway, just to make sure. They did a big group hug, that Kageyama tried to get out of, but Kuroo grabbed his arm and pulled him in, "You may not like it, but you're my friend now, which means you can put up with a hug occasionally." Kageyama decided not to argue, Kuroo would probably just give him another hug if he did.

They waved goodbye to Kuroo and Kenma and began heading back to Kageyama's house.

"Is there anywhere else you want to go while we're out?" Kageyama asked Hinata.

"I don't think so," Hinata responded, "but I'll let you know if I see a place I just have to go into." They continued walking and Kageyama realized they needed to cross to the other side of the street to get home. They stopped at an intersection and Kageyama pressed the button that would make the lights change so they would have time to cross. He waited for the light up picture of a person walking to appear and stepped out into the road.

He had gotten about halfway across when Hinata screamed, "Kageyama! No!" Kageyama didn't even have time to react, but he felt Hinata shove him forward. It all happened in a flash, but Kageyama knew he would remember every detail for the rest of his life. He stumbled a few feet and heard the screech of tires, a sickening thud, and the sound of someone hitting the pavement. Kageyama dropped the bag he was holding, and turned around as fast as he could. Hinata was lying on the ground, bleeding profusely from a wound on his head. There were scrapes all over his body. Kageyama rushed over, feeling the tears well up in his eyes, this couldn't be happening.

"Hinata? Are you okay? Hinata, please say something to me," Kageyama begged. Hinata didn't respond. Kageyama looked around, the driver of the car had stepped out to see what he'd hit.

"You!" Kageyama yelled, "Call an ambulance!" The man fumbled nervously in his pockets but was able to pull out his phone and start dialing the number. Kageyama turned his attention back to Hinata, his eyes weren't open, but he was breathing at least. Kageyama picked Hinata up as gently as he could and brought him back to the sidewalk. Kageyama set him down and knelt over him. Hinata's hair was sticky with blood, and it was trickling down the side of his face. Kageyama wiped it off to keep it from getting in Hinata's eyes. Kageyama felt so helpless, he was right there, just watching Hinata bleed out, and there was nothing he could do about it. Kageyama began to sob, tears rolling down his cheeks, and taking in long shaking breaths.

"Kageyama?"

Hinata's voice was very small and full of pain, and that made Kageyama cry even more, but he took Hinata's hand in his, "I'm here for you."

Hinata looked into Kageyama's eyes for a moment, "I love you."

Kageyama wrapped his arms around Hinata, careful not to squeeze him too tight, "I love you too."

Kageyama didn't let go of Hinata until the ambulance arrived and the EMTs said he had to. They took Hinata into the ambulance on a stretcher, and Kageyama was allowed to ride along in it too. Everyone in the ambulance was focused on Hinata, so Kageyama just sat in corner and tried to force himself to stop crying, it wasn't helping anything, and he didn't want to cry in front of all these strangers. This didn't feel real, this wasn't how it was supposed to go. Him and Hinata were supposed to have gone back home and cuddled for a few hours. Now he didn't know if that would be possible anytime soon. It would be eventually though, right? It must be, those injuries were pretty bad, but not fatal. At least that's what Kageyama kept telling himself as the ambulance rushed toward the hospital. Then, he continued repeating it when he was told to sit in a waiting room while they treated Hinata. Over and over again, one thought on a loop in his brain, 'He's going to be okay. He has to be okay.'

He was still thinking that when a doctor called Kageyama into her office.

She shut the door and introduced herself, "I'm Dr. Sakai, I know that's not what you care about, you're worried for your friend. The good news is that he survived and he doesn't seem to have any broken bones or many injuries that will leave a lasting scar, the bad news is that did suffer fairly severe head trauma and he's fallen into a coma. We estimate that he'll wake up from it in a few days, but there's a real possibility that he won't."

"What do you mean he won't?" Kageyama questioned, "Do you mean it'll be a few weeks instead of a few days?"

"Not exactly," she responded, "He may not wake up at all." Kageyama couldn't breathe, he felt as if all the air had left his lungs.

"Would you like to go see him?" the doctor asked. Kageyama nodded, and allowed her to lead him out of the room and down a plain white hallway. All of the doors looked the same, but the doctor knew where she was going and pushed one open. Kageyama walked through the doorway and saw Hinata lying in the hospital bed. He wasn't moving, except for the slow rise and fall of his chest that showed he was breathing. Dr. Sakai showed Kageyama a chair he could sit in and then said, "I'll leave you alone with him, I'll be in my office for the next hour if you have any questions. Then, if you can't find me, just talk to the nurse at the front desk." With that, she shut the door behind her.

Kageyama dragged the chair as close to the bed as possible and sat down. He took Hinata's hand in his. Then he used his other hand to brush the hair out of Hinata's face. They had cleaned all the blood off, and Kageyama could see that Hinata was a lot paler than normal. He hated seeing Hinata like this. Hinata was usually full of energy and life, so seeing him laying still in this stark white hospital room, didn't feel right at all. Kageyama found his fingers tracing Hinata's jawline, then back up to his hair, where he kept them, petting Hinata's head while he stared at the nothingness in the corner of the room.

Kageyama still hadn't really processed what happened. He wanted to just go home and have a happy, awake, uninjured Hinata waiting for him, but he knew that wasn't possible. Kageyama felt even worse because he knew he should've gotten hit by that car, Hinata had pushed him out of the way, and that's why this had happened. Kageyama's eyes stung, it was all his fault, if he had just looked before crossing the road, none of this would be happening. He wished with all his heart he could go back and do things differently. At least there was still some hope, he might wake up in a few days and things could go back to normal. Kageyama took a couple deep breaths. Yeah, it would all be better in just a couple days. He could wait that long. It wouldn't be an enjoyable wait, but he could manage it, as long as he kept telling himself Hinata would be okay.

Kageyama wanted to sleep at the hospital that night, he didn't want to leave Hinata's side for a second. He kept having the mental image of Hinata waking up and being all alone, and the thought of it made Kageyama feel sick. The only issue was, he couldn't do that, he had to tell people what happened. He grudgingly released Hinata's hand and went to the front desk to get Hinata's personal belongings. He took out Hinata's phone, and found Kuroo in the contacts. He didn't know who else to turn to, he didn't have a car and the hospital was so far away from his house.

Kuroo picked up on the second ring, "What's up?" Kageyama began explaining the whole situation to him, he hated having to relive it, but if Kuroo was coming, he deserved to know why. When Kageyama finished, there was a pause before Kuroo spoke again, "Oh my god, I'm so sorry, of course I'll pick you up. I'll be there as soon as I can." Kageyama explained to Kuroo he'd be in the waiting room and Kuroo hung up.

Ten minutes passed before Kuroo came running in with Kenma right behind him. He ran up to Kageyama and pulled him into a tight hug. Kageyama hadn't realized how much he'd needed a hug until that moment, and the feeling of it almost made him cry again.

"I will do whatever I can to help you get through this," Kuroo said quietly.

Kageyama saw Kenma looking at him, "Can we see him?" he asked. Kageyama stepped away from Kuroo and lead them to Hinata's room. As expected, Hinata was still in the same position as before, unmoving. Kageyama stood back while Kuroo and Kenma went up to him.

Kuroo turned around to look at Kageyama, "I'm sure he'll be okay, how could he not be, he's Hinata."

Kageyama grimaced, "That's what I keep telling myself." Kageyama walked over to Hinata and gave him a kiss on the forehead.

"I'll be back soon, I promise," he whispered. Then, they all left the room.

They got in Kuroo's car and Kuroo turned to Kageyama, "Where do you want me to take you?" Kageyama hesitated, he could go back to Hinata's house to tell... Oh no... Natsu. Natsu would be devastated.

"I'll just go back home," Kageyama told Kuroo. Kageyama knew he'd have to tell Natsu at some point but he couldn't deal with that today. He'd just let Hinata's family assume he spent the night at Kageyama's for now. He did it almost every night so it wouldn't be out of the ordinary. He'd tell everyone tomorrow, he might be more up to it then, but he doubted that. Even so, he couldn't put it off forever. The car ride was a very quiet affair, except for Kageyama giving Kuroo directions to his house. When they got there, Kuroo gave Kageyama a hug goodbye and began to drive off.

Kageyama stumbled inside. He walked into the bathroom and saw himself in the mirror for the first time since lunch. It was hard to believe that was just a few hours ago, he looked like a totally different person. He kind of reminded himself of a serial killer, his hair was a mess, his face was extremely pale, and he still had Hinata's blood all over his clothes. He knew he should change; he knew he should probably take a shower, eat something and brush his teeth, but he couldn't bring himself to do any of it. The most he did was wipe of the remnants of his makeup before he collapsed into bed, hoping to fall asleep immediately so he wouldn't have to feel like he was existing for any longer. It didn't go as he planned though, the image Hinata lying on the concrete, covered in blood wouldn't leave his mind, so he lay awake for hours, painfully aware of the fact that he was alone in his bed.

When he was finally able to force his body into slumber, it wasn't good. He slept fitfully, waking up several times during the night. Every time, he reached over to pull Hinata closer to him, and every time, all he felt was cold sheets. Eventually, he was unable to stay asleep any longer, even though he was exhausted, so he got up and checked the clock. It was five in the morning, Kageyama wasn't used to getting up so early so he didn't know what to do. He decided to do the only thing he was good at, taking out his emotions through volleyball. He peeled off his bloody clothes and changed into a T-shirt and gym shorts. He grabbed a jacket and walked to Karasuno High. It took a lot longer than normal, because usually he was racing Hinata, but he didn't see the point in running without him.

He reached the gymnasium, and pushed open the doors. No one else was inside, which Kageyama had expected. He picked up a volleyball and a water bottle and started practicing serves, he wasn't the best at serves, but normally did okay. Today however, he missed the water bottle every single time. He was so useless! He couldn't do anything for Hinata, and now he couldn't even play volleyball properly. His legs felt shaky, so he sat down and put his head on his knees. He didn't know how much time passed, but he was still in that position when Yamaguchi came into the gym.

"Kageyama?" He sounded startled.

Kageyama looked up hurriedly, and wiped the tears off his cheeks, "I'm fine. Why would you say anything otherwise?"

Yamaguchi walked over, "I didn't say you weren't fine, but I really don't think you are. Is there anything you need to talk about?" He sat down next to Kageyama and tentatively put his arm around Kageyama's shoulders. Kageyama began telling Yamaguchi what the situation was.

"So, I don't know if he's going to be okay, and it's all my fault," Kageyama finished.

"It's not your fault, you couldn't have known what was going to happen," Yamaguchi told him, "Anyway, you've talked about him for a while, what about you?"

"Me?" Kageyama asked, "Nothing happened to me, that's what I've been telling you."

"Look, I don't want to pry, but I meant how are you feeling? This must have affected you a lot, and if there's something you need to get out, I'm here to listen," Yamaguchi explained, "You probably feel like your thoughts aren't important because you weren't the one that got hit, but I'm telling you that they are. You have still been hurt, if not physically, emotionally."

"Well, I haven't been feeling great," Kageyama started. Yamaguchi motioned for him to continue, so Kageyama did, "I just feel so helpless, I was the one who was supposed to protect Hinata, but he protected me. He shouldn't have, it would be so much better if I was the one in the coma right now. I also feel very alone, which is stupid because people like you and Kuroo have been comforting me, which I appreciate, but it also makes me feel like a burden. I don't think I deserve this attention; I don't deserve anything." Kageyama stopped. Everything had just come out, he wasn't ready to say all that, and he hadn't even thought about it, he'd just talked.

"You deserve so much Kageyama," Yamaguchi said, "The only thing you don't deserve is to have this happen to you." Kageyama couldn't handle this anymore, he hated feeling vulnerable. He shook Yamaguchi's arm off of him and ran out of the gymnasium. Yamaguchi started to run after him, but it turned out he didn't need to, Kageyama barely got out of the door because he slammed into someone who was about to come through. Kageyama fell backward and looked up. Tsukishima was standing over him. Tsukishima opened his mouth but Yamaguchi leapt over Kageyama and clapped his hand over it.

"Don't say anything," Yamaguchi warned. Kageyama scrambled to his feet again and pushed past the both of them. He didn't want to be around people right now, the only one he wanted to see was Hinata, and he had no good way to get to the hospital. It would take too long to walk or run and he didn't have a car. Maybe he could ask Kuroo again, he didn't want to wake him up, but it was the only thing he could think of. He pulled out his phone and dialed the number.

It took a little bit for Kuroo to pick up but eventually Kageyama heard his voice on the other end, "Hello?" He sounded like he'd just woken up.

"Um, hi. I was wondering if you could drive me to the hospital?" Kageyama asked nervously.

"Yeah, of course," Kuroo's voice was more awake now. I just need to get ready, but I don't have classes until later today. I'll meet you at your house in 20 minutes. Does that sound good?"

"That sounds perfect," Kageyama told him. 20 minutes, that would give him time to stop at Hinata's house. He changed his direction slightly to head there first. He knocked on the door and it opened almost immediately. Natsu was wearing a backpack, and she seemed like she was leaving for school soon.

"What are you doing here? Why do you look so tired?" She questioned, "Where's Shoyo?"

Kageyama knelt down, so he could look her in the eyes, "That's actually why I'm here. He's in the hospital." Kageyama was getting really sick of telling the story, but he did it one more time. Natsu was horrified and she wanted to go see Hinata right away. Kageyama stopped her, "I don't think your mom would like that, you need to go to school. Then, let her know and you two can come see him."

Natsu hung her head, "Fine."

Kageyama realized he was skipping school to go see Hinata, which was the exact opposite of what he told Natsu to do, but she didn't have to know that. He gave Natsu a hug, and then made his way back to his own house.

When he opened the door, he saw the stuffed dog Hinata had placed on the table yesterday. It felt like such a long time ago. Kageyama picked up the dog, and took it to his bedroom. He grabbed his backpack and dumped out all of his schoolwork. He shoved the dog inside and looked around his room. He took a few of the pictures he had of him and Hinata. He also got Hinata's favorite of Kageyama's shirts. It was an orange one with a black silhouette of a volleyball player. Kageyama had actually bought it because it reminded him of Hinata, but Hinata had loved because it was big and soft and smelled like Kageyama. Kageyama opened one of his desk drawers, which was full of Kit-Kats. Kageyama thought they were okay, but he preferred ore no milk candy when he wanted a treat. He only had so many of them because Hinata really liked them and he wanted them to always be available for him. Even though there were over 400 different flavors to choose from, Hinata's favorite was the milk chocolate so that's what Kageyama bought. He grabbed several handfuls of them and stuck them in his backpack as well. Just as he was zipping it up, he heard a knock on the door. Kageyama slung the bag over his shoulder and went to answer it. Kuroo was standing on the porch waiting for him. Kuroo inspected Kageyama as he opened the door, Kageyama knew he was a bit of a mess at the moment, but Kuroo didn't seem surprised by this, and didn't say anything. They got into Kuroo's car and headed to the hospital.

As they drove, Kuroo told Kageyama, "Just so you know, anytime you need a ride, just call me and I will do my best to come get you. It's the least I can do." Kageyama wasn't sure if Kuroo knew, but he was extremely grateful to hear those words. Getting to the hospital as often as he wanted to was something he'd been worried about.

"I'll take you up on that offer a lot," Kageyama warned Kuroo.

Kuroo nodded, "I know, and I wouldn't have said it if it was an issue. I want to do this." Kageyama didn't know how to respond, he was so shocked at how nice Kuroo was being.

They pulled into the hospital parking lot and Kuroo turned to Kageyama, "Do you want me to come in with you or do you want to be alone?"

"Honestly, I'd appreciate it if you came in," Kageyama told him.

"Okay, my first class is at 1 so I can stay with you until 12:30 or so. I'm assuming you'll want to stay later than that, so text me when you want to be picked up and I'll get you as soon as I can." They walked into the hospital, all of the hallways looked the same, but Kageyama knew exactly where he was going. He'd memorized Hinata's room number immediately, it was 4878. That meant he was up on the fourth floor, so Kageyama dragged Kuroo up the stairs. He didn't take the elevator because he had a slight fear of them. He would do it if he had to, but he almost always preferred the stairs. They reached Hinata's room, and Kageyama walked in with Kuroo and hastily shut the door behind them. He didn't like how many other people were around, and he wanted to feel like him, Kuroo, and Hinata were the only ones in the building. Of course it didn't work, he could still hear people walking up and down the hallways and shouting things, but it still made Kageyama feel better to have the door closed. Kageyama set down his bag. Kuroo also had a backpack and he grabbed one of the chairs, sat down in it and took out his chemistry homework.

While Kuroo was working on that, Kageyama took the stuffed dog out and laid it on Hinata's chest. Then, he gently took one of Hinata's arms and placed it on top of the dog, so he could be holding it. Kageyama then set up the pictures he'd brought on the table next to Hinata. Finally, he gave Hinata the shirt. If Kageyama wasn't there when Hinata woke up at least he would have something that belonged to him. Hopefully that wouldn't happen though, and he would be there. Kageyama decided not to give Hinata the Kit-Kats yet, because he didn't know what the hospital staff would think if they saw them, but he'd always take it when he visited to make sure Hinata could have some. He offered one of the Kit-Kats to Kuroo, who took it and unwrapped right away. Kageyama realized he hadn't brought anything to do while he was there, but he did have his phone, so he plugged in headphones, turned on some music, and held Hinata's hand, while staring off into space.

He was starting to accept the whole situation slightly more. Hinata would be awake in a few days, and Kageyama just had to make sure he was there for it. He was going to make Hinata's stay in the hospital as enjoyable as possible, and even though Hinata wasn't going to be awake, Kageyama was already forming plans if what he would do the next time he came. He would definitely bring a book to read to Hinata, he'd just have to pick out which one would be best. He also wanted to paint Hinata's nails. He would do the Karasuno colors and he could paint his own to match. Maybe Kageyama could get a journal to document his days so Hinata could read it when he woke up, and that way he wouldn't feel like he'd missed out on anything. Yeah, he definitely wanted to do that, he took a pen out of his backpack and wrote on his hand to remind himself to buy a journal at the next opportunity.

Kuroo glanced up at Kageyama, "Do you want to do something?"

Kageyama took out his headphones, "What did you have in mind?"

Kuroo pulled his phone out, "Well, Kenma is streaming right now. He likes to do it when I leave our apartment so he doesn't feel alone. I was thinking we could watch it."

Kageyama shrugged, "Sure." Kuroo opened his phone and scooted his chair next to Kageyama's. He logged into twitch and joined Kenma's stream. Kenma appeared on the screen, yelling at his game, but he paused to look down to see who'd joined his stream, and when he saw it was Kuroo, he gave a small smile before focusing on the game again. He was playing a game with several other random people online.

They were working together, but Kenma seemed to be very fed up with them, "Guys! Guys! Shut up! I already told you I have a whole strategy worked out. I know exactly what the other team is going to-- quit talking over me! If you'll just let me talk for two seconds, we can win!" Kageyama was very startled. He'd never seen Kenma act like this before. He looked at Kuroo, to see if he seemed surprised, but he was just looking at Kenma lovingly.

"Does he normally act like this?" Kageyama asked, "He doesn't seem the same as yesterday." Kuroo stared at him with a confused expression, "What do you mean? He's like this all the time."

"No, he's not," Kageyama said. Kuroo laughed, "Oh, I guess he shows it less around other people than when he's at home, but this is just his personality." He looked back at his phone screen, "Isn't it amazing?"

"Um, sure?" Kageyama said uncertainly.

He looked back at Kenma, who had thrown of his headphones in frustration and was pacing the room, taking deep breaths and muttering, "I am surrounded by incompetence." Then, he sat back down in his chair, and put on his headphones, "Are you guys ready to grow a few brain cells and actually listen? I know it's something that's difficult for you but bear with me." he said snarkily. The other people completely ignored him. Kenma looked like he was about to explode with anger, but he just set his mouth in a line, took off his headphones again and quit the game. He turned to the camera, "Is there anyone out there who isn't a complete idiot that wants to play with me?" He didn't give anyone time to comment anything before he continued, "Oh that's right, I'm the only smart one, and no one will let me speak. I think that's enough group games for now, because people obviously know nothing about teamwork!" He began scrolling through all the games he owned, trying to choose one, but eventually gave up, "You know what? I think I'm too mad to do anything else right now. I'll see you guys later." The stream ended abruptly.

Kuroo looked at Kageyama expectantly, "I believe that was his shortest stream yet. What did you think? He's wonderful, isn't he?"

Kageyama wasn't sure what to say, "It was... interesting."

"I love watching them so much," Kuroo said, "It's nice to see his face even if I can't be near him."

"Yeah," Kageyama replied. He looked down at Hinata. He couldn't wait for him to wake up. Just a couple more days, that was all.

Kuroo stuck his phone back in his pocket, "I don't know about you, but I'm starving. I know a good place right near here. Do you want to get an early lunch together?"

"Nah, I'm not hungry," Kageyama replied.

"Have you eaten today?" Kuroo questioned.

"No, but--" Kageyama started.

Kuroo interrupted him, "Unacceptable. You're as bad as Kenma. Without me, that boy would starve." He grabbed Kageyama's arm and stood up, "I know you want to stay here with Hinata, but you need to eat. There's no sense in not taking care of yourself." Kageyama allowed Kuroo to pull him out of his chair. He reluctantly released Hinata's hand and they walked out the door. They got to the bottom floor and went out the front door. Kuroo looked around to get his bearings. He swerved to the left a little, "Okay, I think it's this direction."

He tried to pull Kageyama across the street, but Kageyama froze. He felt cold and shaky, "Kuroo, I don't think I can do this." Kuroo stepped back, "Okay, did you want to wait here while I grab the food? I can get takeout and bring it back here." Kageyama tightened his grip on Kuroo, "No, I don't want you crossing the street either."

"Well, that limits our options," Kuroo said, "Hospital food usually isn't that good. Do you have a better plan?"

Kageyama shook his head, "I don't, but I can't... I can't."

Kuroo thought for a moment, and then brightened, "We can just drive." They walked over to the parking lot and after several minutes found where Kuroo had parked. They climbed in the car.

It only took a few minutes to reach the restaurant, since it was within walking distance. They were serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner food. Kageyama decided to go with the breakfast option, since he hadn't had any, and Kuroo had lunch food. Even though they'd ordered meals for two different times of day, what they got was very similar. They both got rice with slightly different toppings. The main difference was that Kageyama got milk while Kuroo got soda.

While they were eating Kageyama asked, "Do you know if there's a bookstore or a stationary store near here?"

Kuroo nodded, "Yeah, actually there's one a few shops down. I don't even think we'd have to cross any streets."

Kageyama was relieved to hear that, "Do you mind if we go visit it after this?"

"No, not at all. I just need to make sure I get back in time for my class." There was an awkward silence after that, and Kuroo attempted to make conversation, "So, how's school going?" Then he realized that Kageyama was supposed to be at school right now, cleared his throat and said, "You know what, never mind about school, it's not important anyway. What I really meant to ask was, um, do you have any hobbies besides volleyball?"

Kageyama scratched his head, "Not really, I do a lot of doodling when I'm in class, but I don't think it's good enough to be considered a hobby."

Kuroo seemed very interested, "Can I see some?"

Kageyama shrugged, "I don't see why not, just don't expect them to be amazing." He opened his backpack to see if there were any notebooks that hadn't fallen out. After a little bit of rummaging, he found one, and slid it across the table to Kuroo. Kuroo opened it eagerly, and saw, amongst the pages of Kageyama's messy notes, many doodles, all of the same thing: Hinata.

Kuroo's eyes widened, "Wow, these are actually really good. How come I didn't know this about you before?"

"We don't know each other that well. Plus, it's not something many people know. I didn't even tell Hinata because I thought he might find it weird."

"Isn't that a bit difficult since you two are in the same classes?" Kuroo asked.

"No," Kageyama responded, "He's usually asleep or distracted by something else."

"I think your drawings are quite good. Maybe you should pursue this some," Kuroo told him.

Kageyama was hesitant, "I don't know."

"I'm not saying you need to become a professional artist or anything," Kuroo explained, "Just do a bit more than doodles in notebooks."

"I don't even have a sketchbook," Kageyama pointed out.

"That's an easy fix. We're going to the stationary store next, I'm sure we'll find something that'll work." Kageyama didn't argue, Kuroo seemed pretty insistent.

Plus, drawing would be a good pastime when hanging out at the hospital. They finished their food, cleared off their table, and started walking down the street.

"How do you know where everything is around here?" Kageyama questioned Kuroo.

"It's right near my college, so I like to walk here sometimes," Kuroo responded.

That answer seemed sufficient, but Kageyama didn't want to walk in silence so he kept talking, "Does Kenma come with you?"

"Occasionally, but it's hard for me to get him out of our apartment sometimes. I keep telling him going out is good for him, but he doesn't like to listen to me. I also wish he would come so we could hang out and talk, because at home he's always playing games. I don't mind it, but I just love him so much and I want him to know he can tell me things if he wants to." Kuroo chuckled, "Oh sorry, I don't mean to complain, I'm sure my issues seem trivial compared to yours."

Kageyama gave Kuroo an awkward pat on the shoulder, "No, go ahead, you can talk to me. I will warn you though, I'm not great at comfort, that's more Hinata's thing, but I can learn."

Kuroo's expression softened, "Are you sure?"

"Yeah," Kageyama said, "You're doing so much for me, listening is the least I can do."

"You know, I think you and Kenma are more similar than I'd originally thought," Kuroo told him.

Kageyama was taken aback, "No we're not."

"I mean, you're not exactly the same, I'll give you that, but you definitely have some things in common," Kuroo said. Kageyama wasn't sure about that, but he supposed Kuroo knew Kenma much better than Kageyama did, so there was nothing he could say to prove him wrong.

They reached the stationary store and pushed open the doors. The whole place smelled like fresh paper, which was very nice. Kageyama didn't know what to look at first, but Kuroo pulled him over to a stack of journals and started flipping through them. After a minute, he'd found one he liked and showed it to Kageyama, "What do you think of this one? It's a nice dark blue color and there's no lines so if you draw in it, they won't be in the way."

"If there aren't any lines, I may not be able to write straight," Kageyama pointed out.

Kuroo patted him on the back, "That's alright, there's nothing straight about you to begin with."

"That has nothing to do with--" Kageyama began.

"It doesn't matter," Kuroo interrupted him, "It's perfect, I'll even buy it for you." He took the journal out of Kageyama's hands and marched over to the counter to pay. He came back a few moments later and gave it to Kageyama, who hadn't moved.

"Kuroo I--"

"Stop complaining," Kuroo told him, "Did you want to be labeled as a person who only cares about getting their lines straight? No, I didn't think so. You're welcome."

"Thanks," Kageyama muttered as the journal was forced into his hands. It was actually a really nice texture, and Kuroo was right, it would be good for drawing, and if he wanted lines, he could always use a ruler and a pencil. As much as he liked it, he did feel a twinge of guilt, he didn't want people thinking they had to do everything for him. Kuroo didn't seem to notice the conflicting emotions in Kageyama though, because he was too distracted looked around the store.

"Kageyama look! They have erasers that look like little video game controllers! Kenma would love these. I'm buying some," Kuroo announced. He turned towards Kageyama, "Is there anything else you want? Just pick it out and I'll get it for you." Kageyama didn't want to keep asking things of Kuroo, but he had seen some pens that looked cool that he wanted to draw with. He nervously pointed them out. Kuroo seemed delighted that Kageyama wanted more things and he picked them up immediately. Kuroo purchased everything and stuck the erasers in his bag while handing Kageyama the pens, "Okay, I need to head to class pretty soon, so just call or text me if you need anything."

They walked back to Kuroo's car and drove to the hospital, where Kageyama got dropped off. He waved goodbye to Kuroo and started heading to room 4878. He hadn't realized how much his mood had improved with Kuroo until he stepped through the door, saw the immobile form of Hinata, and all his feelings of worry and sadness came back.

He heaved a deep sigh and sat down in the chair again, set down his bag, and clasped Hinata's hand in both of his, "I know you probably can't hear me, but I need to say I'm sorry. I was the one that did this to you and it will always be my biggest regret. I don't have any right to ask anything of you right now, but please, please wake up as soon as you can. It's only been one day, and I know it's going to be at least a few more, because your body needs time to heal, but still, the sooner the better. I need you. Hopefully you need me too, because I want to be needed. I want to hold you in my arms as you tell me everything you're thinking, whether it be good, bad, or something in between. I want to learn how to comfort you when you want to comforted, since you've always done it for me. Maybe you can teach me. I just want to hear your voice, your laugh, see you smile. Just please wake up soon." Kageyama usually didn't just say all of his feelings like that, but since Hinata was asleep anyway he felt like he could be more vulnerable. He leaned down a kissed Hinata's hand before releasing it to dig through his bag and pull out the journal and open it. He hovered his pen over the blank page for a moment and then began to write.

At first, he had a bit of difficulty because he wasn't really sure what to write about, but when he just pictured that he was talking to Hinata and he could just write whatever he wanted, it became easier. He wrote for a while, but since it had taken him so long to get going, he hadn't gotten very far when the door of the room started opening. Kageyama hurriedly scribbled a few more sentences and shoved the journal back in his bag.

He turned to see Natsu and Hinata's mother. Hinata's mother was crying and Natsu seemed extremely upset, but Kageyama couldn't see her face because she had buried it in her mother's leg. Kageyama quickly moved out of the way to allow them to come over to Hinata.

Hinata's mother walked over to the bed and gave Hinata a hug, she looked up at Kageyama with tears in her eyes and asked, "Is he going to be okay?"

Kageyama gulped, "I think so, he's supposed to wake up in a few days."

Hinata's mother stood up and then hugged Kageyama tightly, "Thank you for being with him. This must be terrible for you too. He loves you a lot you know and it makes me feel better that he doesn't have to be alone." Kageyama felt Natsu move over and hug him too. Kageyama didn't know what to say. He just kind of stood there until Hinata's mother let go of him. She put her hands on his shoulders, and gave him a weak smile.

Kageyama nervously gestured at the door, "Um, I can step out if you want to have a moment with your son. I don't want to interfere with anything." He didn't pause before he said, "Actually, I'm just going to go, if you need me, I'll be in the hall." He picked up his bag and walked out of the door, Natsu following behind him. Hinata's mother made an effort to stop her but Natsu insisted and promised she'd stay with Kageyama. Kageyama and Natsu sat on a bench outside of the room.

"Why did you want to leave?" Kageyama asked.

Natsu wrapped her arms around Kageyama's torso, "I don't know, it just doesn't feel right." Kageyama understood what she meant. The hospital room wasn't very inviting, which is why Kageyama was trying his best to fix it. It still wasn't perfect, but he was doing as much as he could, because he wanted it to be a good place for Hinata to wake up in. He pulled Natsu in closer, they sat together, hugging each other, for a very long time. Eventually, Hinata's mother came out and told Natsu it was time to go home, so she reluctantly let go of Kageyama and followed her mother to the elevator.

Kageyama was alone once again. Well, not really alone, Hinata was there, but he wasn't awake so it was still pretty lonely. Kageyama went back in Hinata's room. He straightened Hinata's blankets and kissed his cheek lightly. Then, he picked up the journal, he'd left the first page blank, and that was for a reason. He began sketching. Just as he'd started, his phone vibrated. He checked the notification; it was a text from Kuroo:

**Hey! I finished my classes**

**Just letting you know I can pick you up or just come back and hang out with you**

**You can also come over to mine and Kenma's place if you'd rather.**

Kageyama looked at it for a moment and then replied:

**No thanks**

**I'll just stay here with Hinata for a bit.**

He got another text immediately:

**That wasn't an option**

**I don't think you should be alone**

**See you in 5 minutes!**

Kageyama was somewhat relieved to see that. He had wanted Kuroo to come, but he didn't want to feel like he was forcing him. Very soon, Kuroo burst through the door with Kenma trailing behind him, looking down at his phone.

Kageyama wasn't expecting both of them, so he said, "Kenma? I'm surprised you came, I thought you didn't like me."

Kenma didn't look up, "I don't really care about you either way, but Shoyo's here too, even if he isn't as interesting in this state. Plus, you're stealing my boyfriend. It's not that I mind that much when he's gone, but I feel like without me, you two might make some stupid decisions."

"Hey!" Kuroo exclaimed, "I mean, you're not wrong, but Kenma, we talked about being nicer to people."

Kenma seemed genuinely confused, "What part of that wasn't nice?"

Kuroo looked at Kageyama with a worried expression, "Don't take anything he says too seriously, he's just being honest. He doesn't like many people."

"That's okay," Kageyama said, "I don't like many people either, they're hard to deal with."

Kenma nodded, "This guy gets it. No wonder Shoyo likes him."

Kuroo grinned, " Aw, you're bonding. Maybe you two will be great friends by the end of this." Kageyama and Kenma both looked at Kuroo dubiously.

"I don't think so," they said at the same time.

Kuroo threw his hands in the air with exasperation, "How can you not see it?"

Kageyama turned to Kenma, "Is he always like this?"

"Nah," Kenma responded, "Sometimes he's worse."

Kuroo took a step away from them, "Maybe it was a mistake to let you guys hang out."

Kenma looked around at him, "You didn't let me do anything. I decided to come of my own free will."

"I drove you though," Kuroo pointed out.

"Only because you insisted on it," Kenma told him.

"Yeah, because I don't trust your driving abilities," Kuroo retorted.

Kenma opened his mouth, then shut it again and said, "Fair enough."

"If it makes you feel any better, I suck at driving too," Kageyama informed him.

Kenma gave him a high five, "I'm liking you more and more." Kageyama laughed at that, and suddenly felt his stomach twist in knot. He shouldn't be happy, Hinata was still in a coma, and he didn't get to experience joy right now, so why should Kageyama?

"Are you alright?" Kenma asked.

Kageyama gave him a pained smile, "Yeah, don't worry about me."

"That's a little difficult when you look like you're about to throw up," Kuroo said, "Maybe we should get out of here for a while, you've been stuck here for hours."

"No!" Kageyama exclaimed, a little louder than he'd intended, he got quieter, "Sorry, I didn't mean to yell at you, I just can't leave him."

"You do have to leave at some point though," Kuroo insisted, "I'm not letting you sleep here." How did Kuroo know he wanted to do that? Was Kageyama that predictable?

"Fine," Kageyama relented, "but I want to come back first thing tomorrow morning."

Kuroo reached out to shake Kageyama's hand, "Deal." Kageyama went over to hug Hinata goodbye, and they left.

Kageyama thought Kuroo was just going to drive him straight home, but he didn't. Instead, he stopped at a grocery store.

"I'm going to get some stuff to make dinner. I want to ensure you two eat. I'll be back soon," Kuroo explained and got out of the car, leaving Kageyama and Kenma alone together. There was a silence in which the only sound was Kenma softly tapping on his phone.

After a while, Kageyama spoke, "Is he a good cook?"

"Decent," Kenma answered, "He's better at baking. The worse part about him making anything though, is that he acts like he's in the chemistry lab and he's an evil scientist doing an experiment." Kageyama wasn't sure if Kenma was joking, but there didn't seem to be any trace of humor in his voice.

"He probably won't do it with you around though," Kenma paused, "At least I hope that's true. It's worst when he gets his hands on the food coloring, because everything ends up green. It doesn't taste bad, but it looks unappetizing, so I've had to hide it from him." Kenma wrinkled his nose in disgust, and Kageyama assumed he was remembering something particularity weird Kuroo had done.

"Are you a good cook?" Kenma asked Kageyama.

"Me? No, not at all. That's more Hinata's department. You wouldn't expect him to be good in the kitchen because he's so easily distracted, but everything he's made has been great."

Kenma seemed intrigued, "Oh, maybe after he wakes up and is able to go back home, Kuroo and I could come over and we can get Kuroo and Hinata to make us dinner. We'd have to supervise them of course, or Kuroo would probably influence Shoyo to do the mad scientist thing too." Kageyama nodded, he could definitely picture that happening.

Just then, Kuroo arrived back at the car. He opened the door and set some grocery bags down, "Okay, I got everything I need for dinner. I also picked up some food coloring, because for some reason we always seem to be out, even though I buy it all the time."

"That's probably because you are just terrible at remembering where you put things," Kenma told him. Kenma and Kageyama shared a quick glance, but they were both able to keep a straight face.

They drove back to Kenma and Kuroo's apartment. Kuroo began making dinner and Kageyama and Kenma sat next to each other on the couch. Kenma was playing games, so Kageyama decided not to bother him. Instead, he got up and went into the kitchen with Kuroo, who was, thankfully, cooking like a normal person.

Kuroo acknowledged Kageyama as he came in, "What's up?"

Kageyama wandered closer, "Not much, Kenma just doesn't seem very talkative at the moment."

Kuroo patted him on the shoulder, "Don't take it personal. I think he likes you, he just likes his games more than people sometimes," Kuroo chuckled, "Occasionally I wonder if he'd rather just play games than hang out with me, because it really seems like that sometimes."

Evidently, Kenma could hear what they were saying because his voice came from the living room, "If you think that, you're stupider than I thought."

"I love you too," Kuroo called back to him.

Very soon, Kuroo finished what he was doing and they all sat down to eat. Kageyama tried to pay attention to the conversation Kuroo and Kenma were having but he couldn't stop thinking about Hinata. He was honestly feeling a whole lot better about everything than yesterday, but that wasn't to say he was enjoying himself; he'd just accepted it more. It was a lot easier to accept after he'd started doing things for Hinata that he could wake up to. Kageyama also did like that he was getting to know Kenma and Kuroo better, he'd wished it would've happened in a different way, but he was trying to focus on the positives, because he knew if he didn't, he would fall apart. They finished eating and Kuroo took Kageyama home, giving him a hug and telling him to get some rest.

Kageyama did try, he truly did, but once again, he had a very uneasy night, because his mind was plagued with thoughts of Hinata alone in the hospital. He made the decision to stay there the next day, he knew Kuroo wouldn't like it, but it was also the only way he'd be able to get any sleep.

...

The next morning, Kageyama rolled out of bed, still extremely tired, but aware he wouldn't be able to get anymore rest. He walked into the bathroom and saw that he was starting to get dark circles under his eyes. That was the least of his problems, so he decided not to worry about it. He checked the time at saw that it was nine, which was later than he'd expected. He walked back into his room and looked around for his phone to text Kuroo. Just as he found it, sitting on top of his dresser, there was a knock at the front door. Kageyama set it down again and went to see who it was. Kuroo greeted him as the door opened.

Kageyama was surprised, "Kuroo? I hadn't even texted you yet."

Kuroo pushed past Kageyama and into the house, "Yeah, but I'm here anyway. I'm going to give you a good start to your day."

Kageyama looked around, "I see that Kenma didn't come with you."

"Yeah, he's still sleeping, he's not really a morning person, but he'll be up in an hour or two. Then, he'll probably stream for a bit before class. Anyway, I'm not here to talk about Kenma, though I could do that all day, I'm here to make sure you're taking care of yourself. Speaking of, no offense, but you really need a shower." Kageyama knew Kuroo was right, so he didn't argue, and went to grab some clean clothes from his room while Kuroo wandered around Kageyama's house.

As Kageyama took off his clothes and got in the warm water, he realized what a good idea showering was. He still had dried blood from two days ago on his torso and under his nails. After some vigorous scrubbing, he was finally able to get it all off and he felt a little better. He finished showering and put on the clean clothes. He stepped out of the bathroom and began searching for Kuroo. Kageyama found him looking around the kitchen.

"Kageyama, you don't have any food," Kuroo said.

Kageyama began opening the fridge, "I mean I have some--"

"No," Kuroo interrupted and shutting it again, "You have nothing." He grabbed Kageyama's arm and pulled him out the front door. Kageyama pushed Kuroo away and went back inside to grab his backpack and a book. As soon as that was done, Kuroo ushered Kageyama to the car and told him to get in.

"Okay, we're buying breakfast. Do you have a favorite place that you like to go?"

"Uh, not really," Kageyama responded.

"You're useless," Kuroo sighed.

They stopped at a drive-thru and ate while they made the rest of the way to the hospital. As soon as Kuroo stopped the car, Kageyama leaped out, without even waiting for Kuroo to finish taking off his seatbelt. Kuroo chased after him, and they ran through the hospital doors together. They climbed the stairs up to Hinata's room and Kageyama and Kuroo sat down next to each other, while Kageyama slipped his hand into Hinata's. Kuroo pulled out his phone, "I got a notification that Kenma started streaming. Do you want to watch him with me?"

"Sure," Kageyama responded. Kuroo seemed delighted at this and immediately opened the stream. Today Kenma had chosen a world building game. He'd done this so that he wouldn't have to rely on other people to do well.

"I learned my lesson from last time," Kenma was saying. He began building a house for himself and running around to meet all the NPCs. Kageyama quickly realized that Kenma could get mad at any video game, no matter what it was. He kept yelling at the different animals to get out of his way as he looked around for materials and when he got to the general store to buy some supplies, he got very upset with the shopkeeper.

"No! That is way too much for a pair of shoes. Why are they even a required item? I go around without shoes all the time," Kenma said angrily, "Why can't you barter in this game? I would be amazing at it, and I would get him to lower his ridiculous prices." He glanced at the comments that people were leaving, "Shut up, I'm not buying the fucking shoes! Especially not the most expensive pair!" Kageyama was finding himself becoming oddly invested in this stream.

"Hey, Kuroo?" Kageyama asked, "Can you help me set up a twitch account after this is over? I want to follow Kenma."

"Oh, are you becoming his fan?" Kuroo questioned.

Kageyama shook his head quickly, "No, I just want to give him more followers and views, since I'm getting to know him better and everything." Kageyama was lying, he just thought it would be a bit strange to admit that he liked watching Kenma scream at his computer screen, especially since Kageyama didn't even play video games himself.

They went back to watching Kenma, who had given in and bought the shoes after Kuroo left a comment saying he should.

As he put them on his character he glared at the camera and said, "This isn't because you told me to Kuroo, I just changed my mind."

Kuroo looked at Kageyama happily, "He said my name. He acknowledged me; I love him so much." Kageyama didn't meet Kuroo's eyes. Sure, he liked that him and Kenma were so happy together, and he knew Kuroo didn't mean anything by it, but Kageyama couldn't help feeling jealous that Kuroo's boyfriend was uninjured and awake.

He turned his attention back to Kuroo's phone screen, where Kenma was now screaming about how there was a lake right where he wanted to build an apartment complex. To fix his problem, he began aggressively making an island in the middle of the lake. That ended up taking a while, and after it was completed, Kenma ended his stream, saying that he would make the apartments next time. Kageyama took out his phone and created a twitch account with Kuroo's help. The first thing he did after it was finished was follow Kenma.

"What's his username?" Kageyama asked.

"Oh, it's kodzuken," Kuroo told him. Kageyama typed it in and saw that Kenma was very popular. Kageyama wasn't surprised, he was fun to watch. It was very strange that Kenma could act like this since he was so shy in person, but Kageyama wasn't complaining. He knew he would try to watch every single time Kenma streamed from now on. If nothing else, it was a good distraction from the world. Kuroo started working on homework and Kageyama pulled out the journal and began sketching on the front page. He worked on that for a while, but eventually took a break to flip a few pages forward and add an entry. He didn't know what to say really, so he just wrote about how he was feeling. It was easier than he expected, but he found himself getting kind of emotional and decided to stop. He went back to the first page and continued drawing. It was going to be a drawing of Hinata, and he was determined to make it his best yet. He wasn't able to get very far though, because around noon, the entirety of his volleyball team burst through the door.

Yamaguchi was in the lead, so he got to Kageyama first.

Kageyama was very surprised, "Shouldn't you be in school right now?"

Yamaguchi raised his eyebrows, "I could ask you the same question. Anyway, we're on our lunch break right now so we don't have much time but we had to see Hinata."

Tsukishima stepped forward and dropped a pile of papers into Kageyama's lap, "Here's the homework you've been missing."

Yamaguchi smiled nervously at Kageyama, "You don't need to worry too much about it right now though."

"Yes, you do," Tsukishima contradicted.

Yamaguchi hit Tsukishima's arm and hissed, "His boyfriend is in a coma, it's okay if he wants to take a break."

Tsukishima rolled his eyes, "It's been two days, he's already had a break." Yamaguchi grabbed Tsukishima by the arm and Tsukishima allowed Yamaguchi to steer him out of the room. As he left, Yamaguchi waved goodbye to Kageyama. Kageyama gave a little wave back and then looked around the room. Kuroo was greeting the other members from the Karasuno team. Some of them were trying to talk to Kageyama but Kageyama didn't feel like talking. He mumbled a halfhearted excuse and left the room.

He slumped up against the wall right outside the room. He knew everyone was just trying to help and be supportive, but he didn't want them here. Outside of volleyball practice, he didn't like being around more than a few people. He just wanted them all to leave so he could go back in and hold Hinata's hand again. Thankfully, in the next few minutes, Yamaguchi returned and ushered the team out of the room, reminding them that their lunch break was almost over. Kageyama moved back into the room with Kuroo.

The day was fairly uneventful after that, until night fell and Kuroo told Kageyama it was time to go. Kageyama was very resistant.

"You don't understand Kuroo, I can't leave," Kageyama said as he pulled his arm out of Kuroo's reach for the second time.

"Yes, you can," Kuroo responded.

Kageyama shook his head, "No, I can't. When I go home I can't fall asleep, because I don't have Hinata next to me. I'll be able to solve that if I just stay here."

Kuroo raised his hands in defeat, "Fine, I know I won't be able to win, and I do want you to be sleeping. I'll be back tomorrow to check on you." Kuroo grabbed his stuff, gave Kageyama a tight hug, and left the room. Kageyama sank back into his chair and tried to get comfortable, which was very difficult.

He was finally able to drift into sleep, but it was mostly because he was already extremely exhausted, and he woke up again a couple hours later. His neck was in pain from the awkward position he was in, and Kageyama knew he couldn't continue sleeping like this. What he really wanted to do was get into bed with Hinata, but he wasn't sure if that was strange. Was it normal to get in bed with someone who was in a coma? Kageyama had no idea since it wasn't a question he'd ever needed answered before. After pondering it for a few minutes, he decided that, no, it was not weird and climbed on the bed next to Hinata. Hinata still smelled faintly of oranges, and the smell comforted Kageyama. He snuggled closer to Hinata and even though Hinata couldn't snuggle back, it was nice to be lying next to him again. Kageyama was actually able to fall asleep soon after he shut his eyes.

...

Over the course of the next few days, Kageyama spent most of his time at the hospital. Kuroo was there very often but he still needed to go to school and be home with Kenma sometimes. Kageyama started doing the homework that Tsukishima had brought to him, as well as drawing, writing in the journal, and watching Kenma's streams. The last one, he usually did with Kuroo, but if Kenma streamed when Kuroo wasn't at the hospital, Kageyama still watched it. Kenma streamed almost every day, which Kageyama was glad of, whenever he was feeling particularly lonely it was nice to ignore his own thoughts and watch Kenma get mad at a game. Since Kageyama was getting into a routine, his days at the hospital became more bearable.

That is, until a week passed and Hinata still hadn't woken up. Kageyama tried to keep his spirits up, but it was very difficult. They said Hinata would wake up in a few days, but that hadn't happened, did that mean he'd be like this forever? No, there must still be a chance, Kageyama prayed that was true. He didn't want to give up on Hinata.

Then, two weeks had passed and Kageyama could barely stand it. Despite Kuroo's efforts, Kageyama stopped eating as much as he should, he stopped sleeping, and his grades slipped even lower than they'd been before. He hadn't played volleyball at all since the first day Hinata had been in the coma. The journal entries he wrote became sadder and more emotional. What really got to Kageyama was that Hinata was changing too, he was losing weight from being on the feeding tubes, and he seemed paler than before. His hair wasn't as fluffy either, but something that made Kageyama's heart break, was that for the first time, he noticed that Hinata didn't smell like oranges anymore. He smelled like the hospital, like disinfectant and stale air. Kageyama wanted to cry, and his eyes stung, but he seemed to be out of tears. He needed to get out his emotions in some way but there was no way he'd actually talk to someone, so he pulled out the journal. He began writing, he knew there was a possibly that Hinata would read it but he wasn't really thinking about that. This is what he wrote:

"Hinata, it's been weeks and you still haven't woken up. I think I'm at my breaking point, I don't know if you're ever going to wake up and I need to learn how to accept that, but I also don't want to lose hope on you. You're my whole world, which is crazy since we've only known each other a few years and have been dating for even less than that, but it's true. I could leave and try to pretend I never met you, to make it easier, but I can't do that to you or myself. I know it could be worse, and at least you're still alive. I still love you just as much and I know I should be happy I can still feel your heartbeat and hold your hand, even if it doesn't hold mine back. I'm trying so hard to be grateful for those things, but it's difficult. I don't want to spend the rest of my life at a hospital, and I don't want you to either. There's still so much you want to accomplish with your life, and I know you can still do it, if you can just wake up. I know I always made fun of you for thinking you can do anything with enough willpower, but now I would give anything for you to be right. I'm not going to lie to you, because you'll probably never lay eyes on this anyway, so I'm sorry if this gets a bit depressing. I feel so conflicted, I don't know if I should assume you'll stay like this forever, or that you'll wake up any day now, and if I do think you'll stay asleep, what do I do then? Do I visit you less? Do I try to find someone else? That seems impossible, no one could replace you. It also seems wrong, because you're still here, you're still alive, and I'm still very much in love with you. Plus, you're here because you were protecting me. If I could switch places with you, I'd do it in a heartbeat. You deserve to live your life and become the greatest volleyball player of all time. You're already the greatest to me."

Kageyama had to stop writing at that point, because he'd begun to cry, and his tears were smudging the words. He set the journal down and wrapped his arms around Hinata, sobbing into his shoulder. As he did this, he thought about how Hinata smelled like the hospital again, and his sadness turned to anger. No! It wasn't fair! That one moment had no right to strip Hinata of all the fun little things that made him who he was. The car accident had already taken so much, it wasn't going to take this too. He promised himself that next time he went home, he would get the orange shampoo and bring it to the hospital to use it in place of whatever they had been using before.

That was exactly what he did, and it made him feel just a bit better, and he continued focusing on his anger at the world rather than his sadness, because that was just easier. When he got angry, he got more productive, so he was able to finish his drawing, complete his homework before school ended, and he got back into exercise. He didn't play volleyball, because he couldn't bear to do it without Hinata, but he began going for runs. He still refused to cross the street so he usually ran in circles around the hospital. It was a good way to get all his energy out, and Kuroo liked to go with him when he was there. Kageyama also read to Hinata every day. He liked to read fairytales and immerse himself in the story, doing different voices and personalities for the characters. He always made sure to do it when he was alone with Hinata though, because he didn't want anyone to see him doing it. The one problem with them was that after finishing story after story with a perfect happy ending, it was terrible to be wrenched back into the real world, which wasn't perfect or happy at all.

He was reading one of the stories one day, and had just gotten to the climax where the prince was fighting when he thought he saw Hinata's eyes open. He looked again and they weren't, Kageyama felt slightly disappointed, but unsurprised, and continued reading.

"Kageyama?"

Kageyama dropped his book. That was the happiest he'd ever been to hear his own name. He quickly looked up and saw Hinata attempting to sit up.

Kageyama pulled Hinata into a hug and kissed him all over, "Oh my god, I thought you weren't going to wake up."

Hinata laughed weakly, "You can't get rid of me that easily."

Kageyama was elated, "I would never want to get rid of you, I love you so much."

"You didn't respond with an insult," Hinata commented, "How long was I out?"

"Two and a half weeks," Kageyama told him, "but it felt like so much longer."

"Well, you seemed to be in the middle of something, did you want to finish?" Hinata asked.

Kageyama picked up the book, "Oh, I was almost done, all I had left was 'and they lived happily ever after.'"

Hinata shrugged, "Well that's a good enough story for me. You know how much I love good endings." Hinata glanced around the room at Kageyama's schoolwork, the stuffed dog, and some sketches Kageyama had done on notebook paper. He picked one of them up, "Did you draw this? Is this me?"

Kageyama snatched the paper out of Hinata's hands, "Um, yeah, but that was just a rough sketch I did to plan for the finished drawing. It's a lot better than that."

Hinata was intrigued, "Ooo can I see it?"

"Yeah, of course. I was planning on giving it to you anyway," Kageyama said as he pulled out the journal. Hinata took it eagerly, but Kageyama put his hand on top of it, "Wait, before you open it, I just wanted to tell you that there's other stuff in there too. I wrote in it every day that you were asleep so you wouldn't have to miss as much."

"You're a writer and an artist? I really missed a lot," Hinata said.

Kageyama shrugged, "Well I'm not really good at either of them, but I did do my best."

Hinata opened the journal and gasped, "Kageyama, this is amazing, I love it so much." Hinata continued staring at the drawing, so Kageyama scooted over to look at it with him. Kageyama had used Hinata in real life as a reference, instead of a picture, because he hadn't been moving anyway and he liked it better. He had changed quite a few things though, instead of laying on a hospital bed, Hinata was on a bed of oranges and orange blossoms, and Kageyama had also drawn him awake and smiling. Hinata leaned his head on Kageyama's shoulder, "If you have any other hidden talents, you should tell me sooner." Hinata flipped to the next page which was covered with Kageyama's writing.

"This is so messy!" Hinata exclaimed, "I'm going to read it aloud and you can tell me if I'm getting any of it wrong." Kageyama didn't particularly want for it to be read aloud, but he agreed anyway, since he would do literally anything for Hinata right now. Hinata cleared his throat and began, "'I'm sitting here in this hospital chair watching you sleep. You're the only thing to look at in here, the rest of the room is pretty boring to be honest. It's not that I'm complaining though, don't get the wrong idea, I could look at your face forever.'

Aww you think I'm pretty. You're pretty too.

'I do kind of wish you were awake though. I'm a little lonely, I was with Kuroo earlier, but no one is the same as you. Ah, shit,'

Kageyama that's vulgar,

'I suppose this shouldn't be so boring, you are going to read it after all, and I don't want it to make you fall asleep. Believe me, I'm sure you'll have had plenty of that by the time you see this.'

Yeah that's true.

'I don't really know how to be interesting; you always say I am but I can't figure out why. You're always the one that people enjoy being around. Maybe I should try to be a little more like you. The only issue is, I don't know how to do that, so hopefully this isn't a terrible gift, I swear I'm trying. At least even if you hate it, this is making me feel a little better, because it's kind of like being able to talk to you again and I want to do that more than anything. Hopefully this is good enough for the first entry, I didn't do all that much today except for buy this journal, but I'll write some more tomorrow.'

Kageyama this is a wonderful gift. I'm enjoying it a lot. You're definitely one of the most interesting people I know, and while I'm surprised that you're actually talking about your feelings in here, I don't mind it at all."

Hinata turned the page and read the next entry, "'Surprisingly, in the past couple of days, Kuroo, Kenma and I have kind of become friends. I know you always said how much I would like them if I got to know them, so as usual, you were right.'

I'm always right, you should know that by now.

'If I can't have you around to talk to, I guess they're the next best thing. Dammit, that makes it sound like I'm replacing you.'

No, it doesn't, I know how friends work.

'Well it's not like that, but I'm sure you know what I meant. No one could ever even hold a candle to you, because you're as bright as the sun. Your name does mean sun after all. Shit, I just realized that sounds a little poetic. I hate that, I always find it horrible when Takeda is being poetic so just pretend I didn't write that.'

I'm not going to do that because it was cute.

'If only I didn't write these entries in pen, then it would be so much easier. I won't change it though, because if I was talking to you, I wouldn't be able to take back my words even if I didn't like them that much, and I want this to be the same way. I don't care if you know I'm not perfect, because I want you to see that, I don't want to feel like I'm deceiving you or only showing you the best parts of myself. No one is perfect (though you come pretty close) but we accept each other for who we are and isn't that what's most important? Fuck, I sound so sappy, I need you to wake up so you can make fun of me and set me straight. I know you wouldn't let me ramble on this long if we were talking in person right now, but I do really want you to know how much I love you.'

I'd probably try to let you do it but I admit that I interrupt people a lot.

'Anyway, I think that's enough journaling for right now or I might turn into a big pile of emotions and no one wants that, especially me.'

Well, you'd seem like a very different person, that's for sure."

Kageyama was blushing profusely, this was so embarrassing, he never actually went back and read the entries after he'd written them, so he'd pretty much forgotten everything he'd put in them. Hinata kept reading, but his voice got more worried as he continued and the entries got sadder. As he reached the ones from a few days ago Hinata stopped and looked at Kageyama, "I know that you wrote these for me, but they're getting extremely personal and you seem to be writing like I'll never actually see them, so I just wanted to make sure it's okay that I go on. I don't want to invade your privacy if these are things you'd like to keep to yourself."

Kageyama took a deep breath, "You can keep going, but I'd prefer if you just read it to yourself." Hinata turned back to the book and finished reading the last few entries.

After he was done, he hugged Kageyama tightly, "Hey, I just want to start off with saying, none of this is your fault. You need to stop thinking that. Next, I want you to know that I love you with all my heart and I never plan on leaving you. The car tried its best to stop me, but I'm awake now. It's just like in the fairytale you were reading, 'they lived happily ever after' right?" as he said these last few words Hinata pulled Kageyama in and kissed him. Kageyama felt so good, Hinata was awake, that meant he was recovering, and maybe Hinata was right, they really could live happily ever after. Hinata leaned back, "I'm starving, is there anything to eat around here?"

Kageyama fumbled for his bag and pulled out a handful of Kit-Kats, "This is all I have right now, sorry." Hinata took them eagerly, "That's alright, I love these." He began unwrapping them immediately.

He began munching on the Kit-Kats, and Kageyama's phone vibrated, he was going to ignore it, but Hinata asked, "Are you going to check that?"

Kageyama looked, "Oh it's just a notification that Kenma started a stream. Did you know he did that? I just recently learned about it."

"Of course I knew, I watch him all the time," Hinata responded.

"Wait, when did you watch them?" Kageyama questioned him, "And why didn't you tell me?"

"I watched them at home, without you, because I didn't think you'd be interested. Do you want to watch this one together?"

"Um, sure," Kageyama moved closer.

Hinata rested his head on Kageyama's shoulder, "Hey, Kageyama? Do you know where my phone is?"

Kageyama pulled it out of his backpack, "Here, what do you want it for?"

"I'm going to log in with my account too, so I can leave comments if I want," Hinata explained.

This time, Kenma was playing with Kuroo.

Kuroo waved at the camera and Kenma said, "Today I'm playing with my boyfriend, because every time I play with anyone else, they don't listen to me, but I know Kuroo will, because he loves and supports me."

Kuroo grinned, "Aw, you love and support me too, right Kenma."

"I didn't say that," Kenma told him, "Now, which game did you want to play?"

Kuroo's eyes widened, "I get to choose? I pick HoloLAB Champions, that's my favorite game."

Kenma sighed, "Kuroo, that's all you ever want to play."

Kuroo nodded, "Yeah, because it's the best game ever."

"No, it's not," Kenma protested, "It's all about chemistry. Plus, it's a VR game so we'd have to get up and move around."

"Please, Kenma?" Kuroo begged, "Just one round, and then I'll play whatever you want."

"Fine," Kenma conceded, "but it'd better be only one round, got it?" Kuroo agreed readily and pulled out the VR headsets.

"Do you want to explain HoloLAB Champions to our viewers Kuroo? It may come as a surprise but I would guess that the majority of people don't know much about the world of chemistry related video games," Kenma said.

"This is the perfect time to educate them," Kuroo said happily, "Maybe I'll make them get excited about chemistry!"

He began describing the game, which turned out to be a bit like a game show, where contests where put in a lab and given various chemistry experiments. They competed against each other, and there were several mini experiments and a final boss lab. Kenma was unenthusiastic at first, but Kuroo kept encouraging him, and Kenma slowly got more into it. He still didn't try that hard on the experiments though, and mostly yelled at the announcer, so Kuroo inevitably won the game. They switched to a different game, which Kenma picked out. Their characters worked together to solve puzzles and defeat enemies, and it involved a lot of strategy, so Kenma got to order Kuroo around. Kuroo didn't seem to mind, whenever Kenma yelled Kuroo just looked lovingly at him.

One time, Kenma got really angry because Kuroo messed up his plan for the third time and Kuroo just nodded and said, "You're really hot when you're mad, can I kiss you?"

The anger left Kenma's voice and he hesitated, "Kuroo, people are watching."

"And?" Kuroo asked.

"And I'm not going to kiss you, we can do that later, right now we're playing games," Kenma told him. Kuroo didn't seem surprised by that answer, clearly, they'd had conversations like this before.

Kenma glanced down at the comments, "I know you wouldn't mind it Shoyo, that doesn't mean..." he stopped speaking and hit Kuroo's arm, "Shoyo! Kuroo, Shoyo commented!"

Kuroo looked at the comments and back at Kenma, "You think he's--" but they didn't get to hear the rest of Kuroo's question because Kenma stopped the stream. Immediately after it ended Kageyama got a text from Kuroo.

**Is he awake?**

Then, a couple seconds later.

**We're on our way**

Hinata was reading Kageyama's texts too, and he grinned, "That was quick."

A few minutes later, Kuroo and Kenma arrived. They'd obviously run to Hinata's room because they were both breathing heavily. Hinata beckoned them over so he could give them hugs. Kenma got a hug first and he held onto Hinata for a pretty long time, which Kageyama guessed was unusual, because Kuroo said, "How come you never hug me for that long?"

Kenma glared at him, "Because you've never been in a coma for two and a half weeks."

Kuroo shrugged, "That's fair."

Kuroo gave Hinata a hug too, and Hinata looked at them, "As much as I love seeing you and all, I'm still hungry, so now that we've had our reunion, can we find food?"

"Yeah," Kuroo said, "I don't think your first meal in two weeks should be hospital food though, so I'll go get some take out for us and bring it back here. Kenma can come with me, because I'm sure he'll be able to pick you out something that you like."

Kenma held up his hands, "Woah there, I don't want that kind of trust placed in me. What if he doesn't like it?"

"Don't worry, I will," Hinata reassured him. Kuroo and Kenma left the room. Hinata saw the orange shirt that Kageyama had brought sitting on the table near his bed. He leaned over and pulled it on.

"This is my favorite of your shirts. I'm assuming it's here for me, but if it wasn't, it is now."

"Oh, I just chose it at random, I didn't know it was your favorite, but it's definitely here for you," Kageyama told him.

Just then, they heard a voice coming from the hallway that neither of them expected, "Hey hey hey!"

"Oh god, is that who I think it is?" Kageyama said at the same time as Hinata burst out, "Bokuto!" He tried to push himself out of bed, but Kageyama stopped him, because he didn't want Hinata to overexert himself. Kageyama got up and opened the door to see Bokuto aimlessly wandering the halls and bothering everyone he saw. Kageyama called his name, which got his attention. He bounded over and gave Kageyama a hug, squeezing him tightly and lifting him off the ground.

After Bokuto set him down again Kageyama stepped back and asked, "What are you doing here?"

Bokuto was bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet, "We're here to see Hinata of course! We were watching Kenma's stream when we saw that he commented. We would've come to visit earlier but Kuroo told us to wait until he was awake, because you don't like visitors."

"We?" Kageyama questioned.

"Oh, Akaashi is downstairs talking to the front desk people to see which room Hinata is in. He told me to wait but I knew I could find it on my own," Bokuto said proudly, "It's 4880, right?"

"4878," Kageyama corrected. Then they heard something from down the hall that made them turn their heads.

"I'm so sorry to bother you, but have you seen my friend? He's a little over six feet tall, grey and white hair, usually responds to the name Bokuto."

"Akaashi!" Bokuto yelled as he ran towards his boyfriend.

"Bokuto," Akaashi said in a relieved voice, "I told you to stay with me. I was so worried you'd gotten lost."

"What?" Bokuto exclaimed, "That would never happen, my sense of direction is great."

"You got lost trying to find our apartment yesterday," Akaashi sighed.

"Hey, that's not my fault, our building is confusing," Bokuto defended, "I just need some more time to figure it out."

"We've been living there for two years," Akaashi told him.

"Shhh, Akaashi," Bokuto whispered, "You're going to embarrass me in front of Kageyama."

Akaashi looked at Kageyama, "I think you're already doing that for yourself."

Bokuto changed the subject, "Can we see Hinata now?"

"Sure," Kageyama replied. He led them into Hinata's room, where Hinata was looking at the drawing Kageyama had done.

"Ooo what's that?" Bokuto asked with interest. He didn't wait for Hinata to respond and sat down on the bed so he could see.

"Who drew that?" Bokuto wondered, "It's really good."

"Kageyama did," Hinata told him.

Bokuto turned towards Kageyama, "Can you draw me? I can pay you." He reached it his pocket and all he managed to come up with was a 500-yen bill. He cleared his throat, "I can pay you later," he corrected himself.

"Um," Kageyama began, he wasn't sure what to say, he didn't think his art was good enough to get payment for, and the only thing he'd drawn was Hinata. Thankfully he was saved from responding because at that moment, Kenma and Kuroo came back with food. They seemed surprised to see Bokuto and Akaashi standing there. Well, Kuroo seemed surprised, and Kenma ignored them.

"I suppose it's a good thing we got lots of food," Kuroo said. He set down the takeout and handed everyone utensils. As they ate, they began making small talk.

Kuroo mentioned chemistry class, and Hinata gasped, "School! I totally forgot about it. I've missed so much. Wait, I've been asleep for two and a half weeks, does that mean this is summer break? I didn't do my finals!"

Kageyama put his hand on Hinata's shoulder to calm him down, "I'm sure the school is fine with it, you have a good excuse for missing everything. They'll probably let you do some sort of make-up tests after you get out of the hospital."

Hinata nodded, "You're probably right."

"I can help you study for them," Kuroo offered, "I did really well on all my finals and we never did get to do that study group we talked about."

"That sounds great," Hinata turned to Kageyama, "How did you do on your finals?"

Kageyama fidgeted nervously, "I, um, sort of didn't take them."

"What do you mean you didn't take them? Why not?" Hinata questioned.

"I didn't want to leave you," Kageyama said.

"So you haven't been going to school this whole time?" Hinata exclaimed.

"Well, yeah, because I wanted to make sure I was there when you woke up, but I did do most of my homework," Kageyama defended.

Hinata laughed, "You are so sweet and stupid. This does mean we'll get to take the make-up tests together though."

"Maybe we can turn it to a competition," Kageyama suggested.

Kuroo stepped between them, "As the one that will be tutoring you two, I am against that idea."

"Aww," Hinata complained, "but that's how we get things done best."

"Yeah, yeah, you may get it done, but that doesn't mean I won't be caught in the crossfire, so I'm not allowing it," Kuroo told them, "I'll teach you that you can be friendly and still do well." Akaashi sniggered, and then tried to pretend he was coughing. Kuroo turned on him, "Do you have something to say?"

"I mean, I've seen you teach Kenma, and I wouldn't exactly call that friendly," Akaashi commented.

"That's not my fault," Kuroo argued, "Kenma just isn't a willing student."

"You've got that right," Kenma muttered.

"See," Kuroo said, "even he agrees I'm a good teacher."

"I didn't say that," Kenma corrected him.

"But I've helped you pass all your classes!" Kuroo said with a slightly hurt tone of voice.

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean you're a good teacher, I just gave you my work and you did it all for me," Kenma told him.

"I think you're a good teacher Kuroo!" Bokuto interjected, "That week where Akaashi was gone and I needed help in math, you did a good job explaining to me!"

Kuroo brightened, and then frowned, "I thought I helped you with biology."

"Whatever," Bokuto responded, and gave Kuroo a hug.

"Don't feel too bad about that," Akaashi told Kuroo, "I've tried to explain to him how taxes work six times now, and he still has no idea what I'm talking about. Bokuto is just a lost cause on anything that doesn't have to do with volleyball."

"Yeah Kuroo," Hinata added, "I'm sure you're a great teacher, and I'm not just saying that because you're my only option."

"Well, I could teach you," Akaashi pointed out.

"Really?" Hinata asked, then he glanced at Kuroo's expression, "I'm just kidding, of course I want Kuroo to teach me."

"When do you think you'll take the exams?" Kuroo asked, "I just want to know when to start preparing."

"Oh, I guess I'd have to be out of the hospital so..." Hinata trailed off, "I actually don't know when I'm leaving." Kageyama realized Hinata was right, he hadn't spoken to any staff since he got up, so none of them knew when he'd be well enough to get out of the hospital.

Kageyama walked towards the door, "I'm going to go find Dr. Sakai, she should probably know you're awake." He stepped out of the room and after a few minutes of taking to some hospital staff, he found out she was doing paperwork in her office, but she wasn't that busy so one of the nurses took Kageyama to her. He hesitantly pushed open the door.

She looked up, "Is there something you needed?"

"I just thought I should let you know that Hinata's awake," Kageyama told her.

Her eyes widened, "That's great! Give me a few minutes and I'll come check on him. You can go back to his room for now and I'll see you again soon."

Kageyama liked Dr. Sakai, not a lot, but she could be much worse. She'd come to see Hinata almost every day, to check on his vitals, as well as other things. This meant she also saw Kageyama almost every day, because he was spending so much time there. Since Hinata wasn't really up for talking whenever she came, she tried to strike up a conversation with Kageyama. He didn't ever say much, but she found out that Hinata and Kageyama were dating not just friends, and she became kind of invested in their relationship. She'd learned about it because she'd found out Kageyama was sleeping at the hospital most nights, and was concerned but let it slide when Kageyama explained how much he cared for Hinata. She didn't pry too much, but she let Kageyama know she was rooting for them.

Kageyama got back to the room, and heard that the topic of conversation had changed to animals, everyone glanced up when Kageyama entered, but continued talking. Bokuto was saying that their cat was adjusting well to living with them.

"It keeps bossing you around though," Akaashi said, "You've fed it more than you should and it's gaining weight rapidly."

"What am I supposed to do when it looks at me so sadly?" Bokuto asked.

"Not feed it. It's not actually sad, you're playing into its hands, or paws I guess," Akaashi told him, "I'll hide the food and I'll just feed it the recommended amount."

"That's probably a good idea," Bokuto agreed, "Otherwise I'll keep getting fooled by it. It's just too clever."

"That is one possibility, yes," Akaashi said.

"Kenma and I are getting our cat in the next couple days," Kuroo interjected.

"Yeah, and I still can't believe you aren't letting me change his name to something other than Peanut Butter" Kenma said with disgust.

"Stop whining, you'll get used to it. You can call him Pea for short if you want," Kuroo suggested.

"You know I'm not going to do that," Kenma told him.

They probably would've continued arguing about the cat's name, but Dr. Sakai came in and they fell silent.

"I'm going to need you guys to leave, we're going to run some tests, it may be a couple hours before you can see him again, so I suggest going out and doing something while you wait." She got Kageyama's phone number and told him that the hospital would call him once they could come back. He thanked her and they left the room.

Kageyama did not like waiting, he had just gotten Hinata back and now he couldn't see him for a while. The other four tried their best to entertain Kageyama to pass the time quicker. They took him out of the hospital and went to look at the shops nearby, like he and Kuroo had done before. They even went in a grocery store, and Kageyama decided to buy a bunch of oranges to have on hand if Hinata got hungry.

They also picked up some things for dinner, and Akaashi tried to stop Bokuto from buying a large case of cupcakes but Bokuto argued, "It's Hinata's first day awake in so long. We should celebrate!"

"Fine, but don't eat too many and make yourself sick," Akaashi told him.

"That's part of the fun," Bokuto complained.

"You say that, but I'm the one who has to deal with you when you're grumpy because you feel bad," Akaashi said, "So I'll be watching you."

As they were leaving the store, Kageyama's phone rang. It was the hospital.

"Oh, that was faster than I expected," Kageyama commented before answering it. They basically were just calling to tell him Hinata was done with all of his tests and was now back in his room, so they could come back if they wanted. Kageyama hung up and informed the others of what he'd just been told. They made their way back to the hospital hurriedly. There was no need to rush but Kageyama still wanted to get there as soon as possible so Hinata didn't have to be alone for too long. Just as he thought that, his phone rang again. He glanced down to see that Hinata was calling. He picked it up immediately, "Is something wrong?"

"No, I'm just bored," Hinata responded, "There's nothing to do here, I don't know how you could stand being here every day."

"I wanted to be there for you when you woke up so you didn't have to be alone. Also, you get bored a lot faster than me," Kageyama answered.

"True. Well, anyway, please don't hang up. That way I won't feel as lonely," Hinata explained.

"I won't," Kageyama promised, "I like hearing your voice."

"Okay, then I'll keep talking, that's something I'm great at," Hinata said happily, "I'll just narrate what I'm doing. Is that alright?"

"Well, you aren't doing very much at the moment I'm assuming, but okay," Kageyama agreed.

Before Hinata spoke again, Bokuto nudged Kageyama, "Is that Hinata? Can you put him on speaker?" Kageyama repeated the question to Hinata.

"Sure, is there a reason for it?" Hinata asked.

"I think Bokuto just wants to listen to you too," Kageyama guessed. Bokuto nodded.

"Okay, I'm still going to narrate though," Hinata told him, "Anyway, back to what I was doing, I need to get these monitors and stuff off so I'm going to set my phone down for a second."

"What?" Kageyama exclaimed, "Why are you taking them off?"

"I'm going exploring," Hinata told him, "Okay, those are off now, time to get out of bed." There was a crash.

"What was that?" Kageyama asked in a worried voice.

Hinata laughed, but it sounded kind of forced, "It's alright, I guess I just got weaker from lying in bed for two weeks. I'm only mildly injured though, so it's fine, I just shouldn't get out of bed so vigorously next time"

"Get back in bed!" Kageyama ordered.

"No, I haven't even left my room yet, there's nothing to worry about," Hinata said nonchalantly. Kageyama turned off the sound on his phone briefly so Hinata couldn't hear him.

"Guys are you hearing this? We need to get back," Kageyama urged them.

"I know, I know," Kuroo respond, "I'm driving as fast as I can, while still being safe."

"Wow, this hallway is very plain," Hinata said, "Although, it seems perfect to slide down, and I'm wearing good socks."

Kageyama turned the sound back on, "No! Hinata, you dumbass!"

"Too late, I've already started--woah! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. It won't happen again," There was a pause, "I just bumped into a doctor," Hinata whispered. Kageyama saw with relief that they were pulling into the hospital parking lot. As soon as the car stopped, Kageyama kept out of it and bolted inside, while everyone else hurried to keep up with him. He got to room 4878, but Hinata was nowhere in sight.

"Where are you?" he asked Hinata.

"I don't know," Hinata responded, "I'm a little lost, all these halls look the same, and I forgot my room number. Maybe I could just scream and you could come find me."

"No, don't do that. Your room number is 4878, when you get back, I'll write it on your hand," Kageyama told him. After a few minutes Hinata found it, and he ran up to hug everyone, starting with Kageyama.

"Don't do that again, idiot," Kageyama said.

"I was fine, you don't need to worry," Hinata told him. That's when everyone spoke up to disagree, except for Bokuto, who was eating a cupcake. He did say something but Kageyama had no idea what it was since his mouth was full. Hinata completely ignored them and took a cupcake. Kageyama rolled his eyes and pushed Hinata gently back into his room. Hinata didn't resist, which was good because all five of them would've stopped him if he tried to leave again. He did refuse to get back in bed though.

"I've been in there long enough, I think it'll be okay if I walk around for a bit, or at the very least sit in a chair," Hinata complained.

"Fine," Kageyama relented, "But I'll be watching you to make sure you're being careful."

"I'm always careful," Hinata said as he leapt on the chair and almost knocked it over. Kageyama realized he needed to do something to distract Hinata before he did something even more dangerous.

"Do you want to split an orange?" Kageyama offered.

"Sure!" Hinata responded.

"I don't have a knife though," Kageyama pointed out.

"That's okay, just rip it in half like the last time we had one," Hinata suggested.

"If I remember correctly, that didn't work so well," Kageyama said.

"Do it anyway," Hinata told him.

"Oh my god, just peel it and then it'll be easy to split," Kenma interjected.

"Wow, you're so smart," Hinata said with awe.

Kenma shrugged, "I guess."

They listened to his suggestion and it worked perfectly. Kageyama even got out a second orange and split it for Kuroo and Kenma. This made Bokuto feel left out, so he grabbed one for him and Akaashi. The room filled up with the scent of the oranges, and Kageyama loved it. It was so much better than the regular hospital smell. They spent the rest of the evening laughing, talking, and basically just enjoying themselves thoroughly.

Once it got dark, everyone but Kageyama decided to head out. Leaving him and Hinata alone.

Kageyama turned to Hinata, "I never asked you, how did the tests go? Can you come home tonight?"

"Not tonight, but I can sleep at home after that. They want me to come back during the day for observation though, so this room will still be mine."

"Okay, do you want me to stay with you tonight?" Kageyama asked.

Hinata looked at his hands, "If it's not too much trouble. This is my first time sleeping in a hospital and I don't want to be alone."

"Well, technically you've been sleeping here for two weeks," Kageyama pointed out.

"Yes, that's true, but you know what I meant," Hinata huffed, "I've never fallen asleep at a hospital before," he corrected himself, "Does that make you feel better?"

"Yes, actually, thank you," Kageyama grinned.

"Glad I could be of service, your Highness," Hinata responded. Kageyama grimaced, he hated being called that, but he decided to cut Hinata some slack since Kageyama was still just happy Hinata was awake. Hinata looked concerned, "Kageyama, are you feeling well? I expected you to hit me for that."

"I'm fine! I'm just trying to be nice to you," Kageyama snapped back.

"Why?" Hinata asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" Kageyama responded.

To Kageyama's surprise, Hinata's eyebrows furrowed, "Look, I get it, and I realize you think you're being good, so I appreciate it, but I also don't want you to treat me like I can't handle myself. I'm not I child you know, I don't need you to feel like you need to protect my feelings because I got hit by a car. I also dislike it because I love you Kageyama, and I want you to enjoy being around me, and feel like you're being yourself, so if I say something you don't like, just insult me back. It's what we've always done, so what's your problem with it now?"

"You're in the hospital because of me, I don't feel like I deserve to get mad at you over something as trivial as a dumb nickname," Kageyama replied, trying to keep his voice from breaking, "Like you said, it's always been this way, but I want you to know I care about you, and I feel like fighting all the time doesn't show that. You could've died Hinata, and I would've regretted my actions so much. I'm such a terrible person that instead of telling you I love you, I called you a dumbass."

Hinata reached up to touch Kageyama's cheek, "That's the beauty of our relationship, I know it means the same thing." He stood on his tip toes and gave Kageyama a kiss, then whispered, "Don't ever stop calling me a dumbass."

Kageyama stared down into Hinata's eyes, "Are you sure?"

Hinata smiled, "Of course I am, idiot."

"Well okay then, dumbass," Kageyama said, pulling Hinata closer to him.

That night, for the first time in what felt like forever, Kageyama was happy he didn't fall asleep instantly. Hinata was asleep, but it felt a lot different from when he was in his coma, because he was snuggling up against Kageyama. Kageyama breathed in the scent of Hinata's orange shampoo, and hugged him tighter. Now, that he was finally back, Kageyama would never let him go again. He would sacrifice anything to protect Hinata from any more harm. Kageyama closed his eyes, and though he didn't know how long it took him to start sleeping, it was extremely pleasant when it did happen.

The next day went well, Hinata and Kageyama were alone together for most of it, but Kageyama didn't have any issues with that. Natsu and Hinata's mom did come by to see him now that he was awake. His mother burst into tears as soon as Hinata greeted her, but she seemed extremely happy and relieved. Natsu just happily began relaying everything she'd done while Hinata was out.

After they had left, Kenma started a stream so Hinata and Kageyama watched that together. They agreed to always watch them together when they could, because it was just a good thing for them to share. The stream was fairly lowkey compared to what they were like normally, because Kenma had just gotten up and was still a bit tired. Once that was over, Hinata and Kageyama decided to wander aimlessly around the hospital.

Kageyama was the one who suggested it, and Hinata exclaimed, "But you didn't let me do it yesterday!"

"Because I wasn't with you," Kageyama told him, "Plus, you didn't even bother to memorize your room number before you left so you were being stupid about it."

"Fine, I suppose you make some good points," Hinata said, "now let's go before you change your mind!" They walked around and went wherever they were allowed. Kageyama didn't find the hospital all that interesting, but Hinata made it fun. One thing that they liked to do was see what all the people coming into the hospital were wearing, and talk about each outfit like they were announcers for a fashion show. At first, they tried to do it for the doctors and nurses but that wasn't as fun because it went along the lines of:

"Oh, and she's wearing a stunning deep blue set of scrubs, it looks like it's all the rage here because everyone else seems to be following in her footsteps."

"Yes, that's right, she must have set a trend."

"Oh, wait, look over there, is he wearing a different shade of blue? No, that's the same color, never mind." And that was about all they got before they got bored and moved on to the patients. The best place to do it was in a waiting room so they found one and sat in the corner away from everyone so no one could hear them.

"Okay, what fabulous looks do we have today?" Kageyama picked the first person he saw, "A very nice lime green shirt, matched with an orange bag. That's interesting, I suppose, she seems to want to break fashion rules."

Hinata chuckled, "Don't forget her bright red shoes." They went on like this for quite a while but eventually got tired of it and went back to Hinata's room. Kageyama grabbed an orange and peeled it so he could split it with Hinata. Hinata took his half gratefully and began eating the wedges one by one.

That evening, they got their things and headed to Kageyama's house. On their way, they stopped and got some dinner since Kageyama had no idea if he had any good food at home, and ate it while they walked. They'd finished their meal by the time they reached Kageyama's house and they were both pretty tired. Hinata ran inside and changed into some of Kageyama's pajamas. They were way too big on him and the pants bunched at his ankles, but Hinata didn't seem to care because they were soft and had little pictures of cats on them. Kageyama hadn't picked them out, he had gotten them for Christmas one year, but he never wore them, so he was glad they were getting some use. They got into Kageyama's bed and Hinata curled up and Kageyama put his arms over top of him.

The next day went similarly, they went to the hospital in the morning. Hinata had to go talk to the doctor for a bit and then they spend the day together doing random things.

They were having a good time, but that all changed when at one point Kageyama decided to ask, "Hinata, when do you think you'll be able to stop coming to the hospital? You seem pretty much back to normal, so why do you need to keep showing up?"

Hinata shrugged, "They just want to check on me I guess."

"Okay, but there's not much to check on, right? You're fine, nothing is going to happen to you, right?" Kageyama persisted.

Hinata looked at the wall behind Kageyama, "Sure."

Kageyama felt sick, "You're a really bad liar, you know that? What aren't you telling me?"

"It's not a big deal," Hinata mumbled.

"If it's not a big deal than why would you keep it from me?" Kageyama challenged, "Tell me what's wrong!"

Hinata took a deep breath, "Please don't freak out."

"I'm not promising anything. I care about you. Tell me now," Kageyama demanded.

"I have an aneurysm. It formed from all the trauma I got to my head when I got hit by the car," Hinata said quietly.

"An aneurysm! I can't believe you hid this from me! " Kageyama exclaimed. He paused, "Um, what does that mean exactly?"

"It's not necessarily something that is harming me right now, but it might rupture," Hinata explained.

"Rupture!" Kageyama repeated.

"Yes, that's what I said," Hinata replied.

"How are you being so nonchalant about this?" Kageyama asked, "A ruptured aneurysm sounds pretty bad."

"Oh, it is," Hinata told him, "The fatality rate is very high, but I'm choosing not to think about it. This is why I didn't tell you; I don't want to focus on it."

"How can you not think about it? You could die," Kageyama's eyes watered as he said this. He didn't want it to be true, he thought Hinata was recovering, so this was a very unpleasant shock.

Hinata took Kageyama's hand, "Because if I think about it, it's all I'll be able to think about, and I don't want this to take over all of my thoughts and time. There's still a chance it won't do anything, and we can go back to normal and forget this ever happened. I still believe in this chance; I'm betting my life on it."

"Isn't there anything you can do to fix it? Some sort of surgery?" Kageyama pleaded, "There must be something."

"No," Hinata responded, "Sometimes surgery is possible, but not in this case. The most we can do is hope for the best."

Kageyama hugged Hinata, "You'd better believe I'm hoping as hard as I can."

After that, Kageyama didn't bring it up again, since he knew Hinata wouldn't want to talk about it anymore. He did go find Dr. Sakai the next day so he could talk to her. She seemed to be doing paperwork, but Kageyama didn't care.

"Why didn't you tell me that Hinata has an aneurysm? That seems like important information. Why didn't you think to share it with me?"

"There's still patient confidentiality," She told him, "He's an adult so I figured he could share it if he wanted. Though I think your relationship is nice, you're not married to him so there's no reason to let you know." She paused for a moment, "And he did seem to tell you, because you found out about it somehow, so I don't see what the problem is."

"The problem is that he has it at all!" Kageyama burst out, "He doesn't deserve this, he's always been an amazing person, I don't understand why it's him. Is there anything that I can do to make it better? I'm willing to do anything, even if it costs my life."

Dr. Sakai shook her head, "No, there isn't anything, I'm sorry. We'll just have to wait and see. Surgery is possible sometimes, but in this case, it seems very dangerous to attempt so we only want to do that as a last possible resort if things are going extremely bad."

Kageyama then asked something he was dreading the answer to, but he still felt the need to know, "If it does rupture, what happens?"

Dr. Sakai sighed, "I'm going to be honest with you, about 50% of the time ruptured aneurysms are fatal. Even if he did survive it, there's roughly a 60% chance that he'll suffer from some sort of permanent neurological damage."

Kageyama was horrified, "Is there any way to increase his chances of survival without brain damage?"

Dr. Sakai looked at him with pity in her eyes, "I'm afraid not. Aneurysms are unpredictable, they can happen with no warning and cause damage or death almost immediately. I know this isn't what you want to be hearing and I wish I could give you a better answer, but the most we can do is pray it doesn't rupture. People can go years, or even their whole life without an aneurysm rupturing and hopefully this is one of those times." Kageyama wanted to cry, he didn't want everything to be based on hope. Hope was not a plan or a solution, it was just something that people talked about when they wanted to feel better even when they had no reason for it. He left Dr. Sakai's office without saying anything else. She probably would've given him more details if he'd asked but he didn't want to know more. He was sure it would just make him feel worse. He knew one thing for certain though: he was going treat every day like it was Hinata's last, because it actually might be.

...

As the days went on, Hinata was finally able to return home permanently from the hospital and things pretty much went back to normal. It was still summer break, so they didn't have to worry about school, but they did go back to playing volleyball. After such a long break from it, both of them were kind of rusty. People were excited to see Hinata back and made sure to let him know how much they'd missed him. Other than the initial greetings though, people didn't mention the car crash much, and Kageyama tried to ignore that it had ever happened. He even forgot about his promise to himself, which was probably a good thing because it meant he wouldn't be weird around Hinata.

They passed their make-up exams so they didn't have to worry about that anymore, and applied to several different colleges, hoping that they'd both be accepted to the same ones, so they could live together. As luck would have it, one of the colleges that accepted them was the one that Kuroo, Kenma, Bokuto, and Akaashi were going to.

Hinata was overjoyed, "It has to be that one!" Kageyama agreed, he didn't know how to pick out colleges so that seemed as good a reason as any to go to one.

When they went to check out apartments to see where they'd be staying, they stopped by at Kuroo and Kenma's place. They got to see Peanut Butter, and Hinata asked how they liked having a cat.

"It's fine," Kenma responded, "I like cats, but it is kind of annoying sometimes, because he walks on my keyboard sometimes when I'm streaming, and he's caused me to exit out of a game multiple times."

They saw that there were already cat things everywhere, including several toys and cat towers.

"I want him to wear outfits," Kuroo told them, "So I'm trying to get him used to clothes, but at the moment he still hates it." Kuroo pulled up his sleeves and revealed scratches all over his hands and arms.

"Some of these are from Kenma," He explained, "For the same reason actually. I was trying to get him to wear something other than a hoodie, but it didn't work out."

"I'm not even slightly sorry," Kenma said, "He tried to put me in a skirt. A skirt! He knows I hate being feminine."

"Kenma you're no fun," Kuroo whined, "I put a skirt on for you."

"Yeah, but just because you're easy to persuade, doesn't mean I am," Kenma answered.

Kageyama and Hinata left them to argue, and continued looking for a place to live. Kuroo and Kenma's building had some open rooms and the rent was pretty reasonable, so after some consideration, they decided to sign a lease. They did have a bit of trouble with the paperwork, but they got Akaashi to help them out and were able to complete it in only a couple days. Now, everything was set for their future and they still had a few weeks of summer vacation left.

Kageyama and Hinata decided to plan a trip to an amusement park like they'd talked about before, because they both really wanted to just relax, spend time with each other, and not have to deal with the stress of life for a day. They picked out a day that had good weather and they didn't have volleyball practice, that was roughly a week from then. They had a little bit of trouble figuring out how to buy tickets online, but eventually it was over with and they were ready. The only issue was: the day after they planned the trip, Hinata began getting headaches.

They didn't start out bad and Hinata just took some pain medication, drank some water and told Kageyama it was nothing. Kageyama was still worried, and he made it clear that if the headaches persisted, Hinata was visiting the doctor. Hinata's headache had worsened the next day, which he tried to hide from Kageyama, but Kageyama noticed he kept laying down and putting his head in his hands when he thought Kageyama wasn't looking. Kageyama made a call to Kuroo, because he still couldn't drive and he knew Kuroo would come if he could.

Kuroo answered the phone immediately and when Kageyama explained the situation he said, "I'm not doing anything right now, except playing a board game with Kenma, and he's beating me anyway so it's just what happens every time. I'll be there soon." Sure enough, Kuroo appeared at Kageyama's doorstep a few minutes later, and they all got in the car to head to the hospital.

When they got there, Hinata had to go back for some tests while Kuroo and Kageyama stayed in the waiting room. They sat in silence for a bit, but then Kuroo spoke, "Do you think it's anything serious?"

"I honestly don't know," Kageyama replied. He didn't say anything else and they kept sitting quietly.

After another long while, Kuroo cleared his throat, "Is there anything you need to talk about?"

"No, stop asking me that! Obviously, I don't want anything to be wrong with him, but it's too late for that, and talking about it won't help anything. Either he's getting worse or he isn't, but me talking about my feelings changes nothing," Kageyama said 'feelings' with a lot of venom in his voice, "I've already had to do it plenty anyway, because everyone seems to care, though they probably actually don't give a shit about me. They can't even give a response that'll make me feel better, and they know that, so just quit while you're behind." Kuroo reached out to touch Kageyama but he pulled away and went off to the bathroom.

He knew Kuroo was just trying to be nice, but Kageyama only knew how to respond to things in two ways, and that was anger and crying, and he sure as hell wasn't going to cry in front of Kuroo right now. He hated crying in front of people and avoided it whenever he could. Kageyama wished he could just be emotionless, he didn't want people to think they knew what was going on inside his head, because of course they didn't. He took a few breaths. He needed to calm down. It could still be nothing, people got headaches all the time. He shouldn't worry until there was actually something to worry about. He knew he should probably go back out an apologize to Kuroo. He never got the chance though, because when he stepped out, he saw that Kuroo was hugging Hinata.

Kageyama practically sprinted over, "Hinata!" Hinata let go of Kuroo and hugged Kageyama.

"What did they say?" Kageyama asked, but with a sinking feeling, he suspected that he already knew the answer.

"They think it is from the aneurysm. They still don't want to do anything right now, because surgery still seems more dangerous, but they want me to stay here again, at least for a few days, to see if it gets any worse." He managed a grin, "On the bright side, I get the same room, so I don't have to memorize a new number, and if it's only for a few days, we can still go to the amusement park."

Kageyama tried to smile too, but he was having trouble with it, "I'll stay with you the whole time, okay?"

"But you have volleyball practice," Hinata pointed out.

"I don't care," Kageyama told him, "I'm not leaving you alone."

Hinata hugged him again, "I was hoping you would say that!"

Even though he was only planning on staying there briefly, Hinata insisted on decorating his hospital room like he'd had it before. That included the journal with the drawing, the stuffed dog, and the picture of him and Kageyama. Kuroo drove them back to get everything, and once Hinata seemed settled in, he headed out, but told them he'd always give them a ride if they needed it.

Kageyama tried to push Hinata for more information about his aneurysm, but Hinata looked at him with pleading in his eyes, "Can we not talk about it right now? I don't want to think about it." Kageyama decided to respect his wishes for the moment, but he would try to get Hinata to talk again later. Hinata tapped Kageyama on the shoulder, "Kenma's streaming. Do you want to watch it with me?"

"Sure." Kageyama and Hinata cuddled up together on the bed and turned their attention to Hinata's phone screen. Kenma was explaining what he was planning for the stream that day.

"I asked you guys what you wanted to see, and instead of choosing a specific game like I was expecting, you all decided it would be funny to watch me suffer. So, by popular demand, I'm playing a strategy game with online strangers again. Honestly, fuck you guys, you all know how much I hate doing anything with people I don't know, especially if it’s strategy related, so I know you just want to mess with me. You're all terrible people, and the only reason I keep doing this is so I can get paid." He glanced down at the comments, "Oh, I'm losing followers over that. None of them will be missed. At least I'm honest! Everyone needs money to survive, so doing things for a paycheck seems totally reasonable to me, and it's not like I'm forcing anyone to give me money."

He opened his mouth to continue, but Kuroo's voice came from somewhere off screen, "Kenma, quit stalling and play the game."

Kenma held up his middle finger in the direction Kuroo spoke from, "I'm not stalling, I'm trying to teach people how to be nicer!"

"I'm not sure you're the best role model for that," Kuroo responded.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kenma snapped.

"Nothing, nothing," Kuroo said.

"You take it back right now!" Kenma yelled. He moved off screen, they heard Kuroo moan in pain and then Kenma returned.

"Now, where were we?" He asked as if nothing had just happened. All of the comments began asking if Kuroo was okay, but Kenma ignored them and continued, "Oh right, I was playing a game with strangers, that are likely to be complete buffoons. I'm sure looking forward to this," he said sarcastically. He logged into his computer and opened up the game. It was called Friend or Fortune. In a few minutes he'd joined a team. The point of the game was to get past several puzzles and traps to get to the end and win a prize. It was easier to get past everything with more people, but the less people there were at the end, the bigger the reward was for an individual player, so you could choose to kill your teammates to claim more for yourself. Things unfolded similarly to last time Kenma played with a group and most of them didn't listen to him. The difference was, that one person did. There was the issue that people didn't listen to that person either, but it was alright, because one of the features of this game was that you could talk separately to other characters and Kenma struck up a conversation with him.

"Okay, um," Kenma glanced at the other person's username, "Endo?"

"Yeah, that's me," he responded.

"Alright Endo, I think we should kill our teammates and do this all ourselves, since we seem to be the only two smart ones here. What do you think?"

"I wholeheartedly agree with that plan," Endo answered.

"Let's see what the puzzle is, and if it looks like we can do it with only the two of us, I'll give you this signal," Kenma made his character jump up and down three times, "and we'll stab them all in the back. They probably won't expect it since usually betrayal doesn't happen until later in the game, since it's easier with the other people."

"Sounds good," Endo replied.

Their group reached the first puzzle and Kenma took a look around. There was a stack of 6 large silver disks, a long hallway with a crystal ball type object at the end of it, and a beam of light coming from one of the walls at an odd angle. Kenma jumped up and down three times. That's when havoc ensued. Kenma and Endo snuck up behind their teammates and attacked. They were very outnumbered and everyone turned around and fought back. They were able to kill everyone but 4 people, but that's when Endo got stabbed. Kenma immediately let out a sharp gasp and murdered the person who'd done it.

He turned to the remaining three people, "Okay, you've got me cornered, but I know how to beat this puzzle. Let me live and we can figure it out together." The other people lowered their weapons and after a bit of discussion, allowed Kenma to live. Kenma turned off his mic for a second and turned towards the camera, "Endo got killed. The only person who's actually listened to me got killed. I'm gonna enjoy this." He switched to a private conversation with one of the others, "Hey, we only need three people to complete this puzzle, can you kill the guy next to you when I turn off the lights?" At first the other player was unsure, but eventually Kenma convinced him. Then, Kenma had basically the same conversation with the other two people separately. Then, he turned off the lights and there was the noise of a lot of weapons clashing and screams of pain from the different characters. Kenma flipped the lights back on and surveyed the dead bodies around him.

"That's much better," he said. He began propping up the bodies and forcing them to hold the silver disks so they could direct the light towards the orb. He'd almost finished, but that's when Peanut Butter walked into frame. Kenma looked at him, "I know what you're planning on doing. Don't even think about it." Peanut Butter stared back at him and then stepped on Kenma's keyboard, causing him to exit out of the game.

"Dammit, Peanut Butter!" Kenma yelled, "Not again!" He growled at the cat for a couple seconds then threw off his headphones, walked to the center of the room, and started screaming.

Kuroo came on screen and pulled Kenma into a hug, "It's okay, you're doing great sweetie. We do have neighbors though so maybe be a little quieter?" Kenma calmed down and leaned his head on Kuroo's chest.

Then, pushed away and looked over at the camera, "Kuroo, I'm still streaming, get away from me." Kuroo grabbed him and pulled him close again, "I don't care about that, Nut wronged you, and I'm going to comfort you."

Kenma struggled out of his arms once again, "Well I care, and stop calling him Nut, Peanut Butter is bad enough."

Kuroo walked over to the camera, "Sorry guys, but I'm ending this, it's the only way Kenma will actually treat me like his boyfriend." The stream cut off.

"They're so cute," Hinata commented.

Kageyama kissed him on the head, "Not as cute as you."

Hinata smiled and blushed, "I love you so much."

"Not as much as I love you," Kageyama replied.

There was a silence, and then Hinata whispered, "I'm sorry."

Kageyama held Hinata tighter, "What are you apologizing for, dumbass?"

Hinata gestured at the hospital room, "This. The fact that everything is unknown, that I don't know if I'll get better. I keep telling you everything is going to be okay, but I'm really just trying to convince myself." Kageyama put his hand on Hinata's face, to wipe away the tears that had started rolling down his cheeks.

"None of that is your fault," Kageyama told him, "I know that hope isn't a plan, but if it's the only thing we've got, we might as well have a lot of it."

Hinata forced a smile, "It's really strange hearing that from you, but I guess you're right."

Kageyama didn't know what else to say, so he reached into his bag and pulled out an orange, "Maybe this'll make you feel better." He split it, and they ate together quietly.

Eventually, Hinata broke the silence, "I'm worried. For the first time, I don't feel like everything is going to turn out okay. I know that's not what you want to hear, since I always try to be optimistic, but that's really hard right now."

"What did the doctors say?" Kageyama asked.

"They think that there's a very good chance it'll rupture. They offered surgery, but they said it could be just as dangerous so I didn't accept," Hinata said.

"You know if it ruptures you might..." Kageyama couldn't bring himself to finish the question.

"Yes," Hinata responded, "Of course I know, but surgery could cause that too so it's uncertain either way." There was another long pause. Hinata shifted, "Kageyama?"

Kageyama reached down and squeezed Hinata's hand, "Yeah?"

"If I was a better person, I would say that you should break up with me and never look back, so you don't have to go through all of this. I can't bring myself say that though, because I'm selfish. Promise you won't leave me," Hinata let out a shaky breath, "I don't want to die alone."

Kageyama felt tears well up in his eyes, "I won't leave you. I could never leave you. You're the best person I've ever met. I promised I'd always be there for you and I meant it."

Hinata buried his face in Kageyama's shoulder, "Thank you."

Kageyama leaned down, breathed in Hinata's orange scent, and murmured, "Please don't thank me for it, I would never even consider doing anything else, so there's no need."

"You're perfect Kageyama," Hinata told him.

Kageyama shook his head, "I'm not, I'm not even close. If I was perfect, I'd find out a way to make sure you were definitely okay, but I don't know how. You don't deserve this; I wish it were me. If I could trade places, I'd do it so fast."

"Kageyama don't talk like that," Hinata said, "I'd never want this to happen to you. Just say you wish it weren't happening to either of us like a normal person."

"You're right," Kageyama agreed, "but wishing anything won't change the fact that you might not... li... have much time left."

"At least if these are my last days, I get to spend them with you," Hinata smiled weakly.

"You deserve so much more. More than I can offer," Kageyama's voice became hoarse, "Why do you have to go? Why do you have to leave me? I know you can't control any of this, but I can live without you. I love you so much. I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you. I wanted to buy a dog with you, marry you, grow old with you. Why does it need to be cut short? I didn't get enough time. I want more time. I want more time," Kageyama repeated as he broke into sobs.

Hinata snuggled closer to Kageyama, "I want more time too, but we have to at least make sure we use the time we've got. If I only have a few days left, I'm making it count." He looked up into Kageyama's eyes, his own shining with tears, "Tell me about you."

"What about me?" Kageyama asked.

"Everything," Hinata responded, "I want to know everything that's important to you, I want to know about your first crush, your first kiss, your first friend."

"That's easy because the answer to all of them includes you," Kageyama told him, "You're my everything, you're the first friend and boyfriend that I've had, you're the first person I've truly trusted and felt like I can be completely honest with, and not a moment goes by that you aren't on my mind."

"I feel the same way," Hinata said, "I was so excited when we started dating, because I'd loved you for so long before that, and it turned out to be everything I'd dreamed it to be. If I could go back, I would've confessed my feelings much sooner. I wish I could spend an eternity with you, talking, playing volleyball, but most of all, just being by your side is what matters most."

Kageyama and Hinata stayed like that for the rest of the day, just cuddling and talking. By the end of it they'd basically told each other their life stories, interspersed with long tangents about how much they loved each other and how they wished they'd known each other since they were little.

It began to get late, and Kageyama forced Hinata to put on all the things that tracked his vitals. Hinata had taken them off earlier because he found them uncomfortable, but Kageyama was insistent. Hinata seemed to fall asleep pretty fast, but Kageyama stayed awake. He wanted to appreciate every moment as long as he could, just in case Hinata was gone soon. Eventually, he couldn't keep his eyes open any longer and he fell asleep too.

He woke up the next day with his head laying on Hinata's chest. It was a good way to wake up, because he could hear Hinata's heartbeat, which was very soothing. Hinata didn't seem to be up yet so Kageyama just lay there, petting Hinata's hair and listening to his steady breathing. After a few more minutes, Hinata awoke and yawned while looking down at Kageyama, "Good morning, beautiful."

"I'm not sure beautiful is the right descriptor for me," Kageyama chuckled.

"Well, I think it is," Hinata argued. He kissed Kageyama on the top of his head. Suddenly, Hinata clenched his teeth and put a hand to his head, "Ouch."

Kageyama sat bolt upright, "Are you okay?"

Hinata blinked, his face was contorted in pain and every word seemed like a struggle, "I... ow... oh my god... this hurts. Oh... now I feel... nauseous. This... isn't good."

Kageyama scrambled to get out of bed, "I'll go get a doctor."

Hinata grabbed Kageyama's shirt, "Wait... please... I don't think I have much time left. I'm already having trouble putting together thoughts. Even if they do perform surgery, I'll probably have permanent mental damage."

"What are you saying?" Kageyama asked.

"I'm asking you to stay with me. I want you to be the last person I talk to or see. If I get that, then that's enough of a happily ever after for me." Hinata began talking faster, "I love you so much, never change for anyone, you're already perfect." Kageyama could feel hot tears filling up his eyes and blurring his vision.

He blinked them away so he could see Hinata's face clearly, "Hinata, don't do this, let me get someone. Are you actually ready to die?"

Hinata grimaced in pain and kissed Kageyama, then closed his fingers around Kageyama's, "I'm not ready at all. I'm terrified, but you're here with me which is all that matters right now. Thank you, for staying by my side."

"Of course, I love you. I love you more than I've ever loved anyone," Kageyama told him.

Hinata tried to smile, "Don't forget me."

Kageyama held back more tears as he hugged Hinata and responded, "How could I?" As Kageyama finished saying this, Hinata's heart monitor went quiet.

Everything was a blur after that, Kageyama didn't move from Hinata's body until a Dr. Sakai came in a few hours later and saw him. There was a commotion, and Kageyama was moved gently, but he didn't remember most of it. He vaguely remembered being taken back home, but he didn't know who did it or when. He didn't know how much time had passed, he'd just collapsed on his bed and sobbed. He'd cried until no more tears came out of him, and even then, he sat there, shaking and gasping for breath. There was a stabbing pain in his chest and he had a dull headache. He couldn't accept it; it was all too much. Hinata was so young, this wasn't fair.

Kageyama decided to go take a shower, maybe being in the hot water for a while would help. He stepped into the bathroom on shaking legs and reached in to turn on the water, as he did, he noticed the orange shampoo bottle. He choked, and slipped. He landed hard on the floor of the shower. He had no will to move, so he just lay there, fully clothed, in severe pain, with cold water pouring over him. Kageyama didn't want to do anything without Hinata. He felt empty and worthless. The only person he cared about in the whole world was gone forever. He didn't want to exist. He hated everything about the world, especially himself. Kageyama would've been fine laying there for a few more hours, but he'd fallen on his hip and the pain was really getting to him.

At first, he just told himself he deserved it, but it seemed to get worse and eventually Kageyama couldn't stand it anymore. He made his way out of the shower, getting water all over the floor of the bathroom. He reached up and grabbed a bottle of pain meds from the medicine cabinet, and unscrewed the lid.

...

It had been a couple days since Hinata's death and Kageyama was exactly where he didn't want to be: the hospital. Kageyama had tried to overdose on the pain medication, but he hadn't been able to, because right when he ingested them, Kuroo had shown up to check on him. Kageyama had been rushed to the hospital to get all the drugs out of his system. They told him he was lucky he'd been saved in time, but he didn't feel lucky, he just wanted to see Hinata again. He didn't strongly believe in anything, he wasn't sure if there was a heaven, hell, or anything at all. But even nothingness would be better than the reality of a lifetime without Hinata.

"I know what you're thinking," Kageyama looked up at the voice. Kuroo was standing in the corner of the room. He had barely left Kageyama's side since he'd found him and brought him to the hospital. Kuroo walked over to Kageyama's bed.

"I'm not going to let you do anything. After they release you, you're coming back home with me until I can find a better place. Kenma may not like it, but it's better than you being alone." Kageyama began to protest, but Kuroo held up a hand, "You don't get a choice in the matter. It's bad enough that Hinata's gone, there's no way I'm letting you die too." Kageyama felt frustrated, him and Kuroo weren't even that close, they'd only become friends because of Hinata's friendship with Kenma. Why was he doing all this? Surely it wouldn't affect Kuroo that much if Kageyama wasn't around anymore. Kuroo continued speaking, "I want you to know that there are people who care about you. People who would be devastated if you were gone. I'm including myself among those people. Think about how you feel about Hinata, others are going to feel that way about you. You don't want to give them hurt like that."

"What do you know about what I feel?!" Kageyama burst out, "Hinata meant everything to me and now he's gone! I'm the reason he's dead! If I hadn't been so goddamn stupid, he would still be here right now! Obviously, the world is better off without me in it! How could you possibly know what that feels like?!"

"I don't know what that's like," Kuroo relented, "But that still doesn't mean I agree with you or want you gone."

"That's not my problem," Kageyama responded, "I still don't want to be here, no matter what you say, you're nowhere as good as Hinata, so don't you dare think you can replace him."

"I'm not saying that I can," Kuroo said hurriedly, "I'm just telling you that I'm here for you."

"I don't want you to be," Kageyama said angrily, "Just go away, I want to be alone."

"I'm not doing that. I'll stop talking to you if you want, but there's no way I'm leaving this room," Kuroo told him.

"Fine," Kageyama growled. He felt so much hatred for Kuroo in that moment. He didn't want to be here anymore, and it was his life, Kuroo had no right to stop him. He glanced around the room, was there anything he could use to... wait. This room looked familiar, it was probably just because all hospital rooms looked the same, but he just had to make sure.

"Kuroo, what's the room number?"

Kuroo got up and leaned into the hallway to check, "4878. Why?"

"Get me out of here," Kageyama demanded.

"You're leaving later today, so it'll be a bit..." Kuroo trailed off as he saw Kageyama's expression, "Oh, you mean like right now? What's wrong?"

"Get me out," Kageyama repeated more urgently as he began to climb out of bed.

Kuroo concentrated for a moment, and then he seemed to remember something and realization dawned, "Is this where... Oh my god." He moved to help Kageyama out of bed. As soon as he was standing, Kageyama pushed Kuroo away and quickly went out into the hallway and collapsed on the floor, shaking. He'd just been where Hinata had died, he didn't think he'd ever be back there, and he didn't want to be.

He was breathing heavily, when a deadpan voice said, "What are you doing?" Kageyama looked up and saw Kenma sitting on the bench outside of the doorway.

"Kenma," Kageyama gasped, "What are you doing here?"

"I came with Kuroo," Kenma explained, "He wouldn't let me come in though. Something about how it was a delicate situation and I wouldn't be properly suited to it. Which frankly, I find insulting. I heard you tried to kill yourself."

Kuroo stepped out of the room, "Kenma!"

"Go away!" Kageyama yelled at him.

"Okay, fine, but Kenma, make sure you keep an eye on him. I'll be in the waiting room." Kenma shrugged, and Kuroo left.

"Are you planning on trying it again?" Kenma asked.

"Honestly, yeah," Kageyama told him, "I just don't feel like there's anything here for me, and I don't want live the rest of my life without Hinata."

"Makes sense," Kenma said.

Kageyama was surprised, "You're not going to try and stop me?"

"I mean, I don't want you to do it, but it's your life. I am going to ask you one thing though: do you think it's what Shoyo would've wanted?"

"Why does that matter? He's not here anymore," Kageyama snapped. That did get him thinking though, is this what Hinata would've wanted? Probably not, but that didn't mean he didn't want to do it.

"What was the last thing he said to you?" Kenma asked.

Kageyama thought, "Don't forget me."

He told Kenma. Kenma's eyes widened, "Kageyama you can't die."

"Why not?" Kageyama demanded.

"You may not respect Shoyo's wishes--"

"How dare you!" Kageyama interrupted.

"Let me finish," Kenma continued, "It sounds to me like he very much wants you to live and help him have a legacy, since he can't do it himself. Remember, he was my friend too, and I want to make sure his memory lives on."

"I don't know if that's what he meant," Kageyama said, "I'll wait a few days, but if I don't get some sort of sign about what he wanted, then I don't see any reason for me to go on existing."

"Kuroo will stop you, so I'm not worried," Kenma told him, "Speaking of, we should probably go join him and go home." Kenma stood up and offered a hand to Kageyama. Kageyama took it, but then flinched and let go. Kenma's hands were close to the size of Hinata's, obviously they didn't feel exactly the same, but close enough to make Kageyama feel sick with grief. Kenma hesitated, he seemed unsure of what he should do, so he just watched as Kageyama made an effort to stand. They found Kuroo and he told them he'd gotten the hospital to release Kageyama a bit early, since he was supposed to be let out that day anyway.

It was getting dark as they walked to the car, and by the time they reached Kenma and Kuroo's apartment building, the stars were visible. He looked up at them and found Cassiopeia, it had changed position slightly, but the sight of it immediately brought him back to that night walking home with Hinata, where he'd named the stars after Kageyama. What had he said back then? That Kageyama could add a light even when darkness surrounded him? Kageyama didn't really feel like a light right now. He felt more like the one creating darkness than the one getting rid of it, and there sure was a lot of darkness to go around. Kageyama felt like he was suffocating in it. His eyes started watering and the stars began looking streaky. It was all too much, everything was happening so fast, and it was just getting so much worse. Hinata had been his light, and now the world looked bleak and gray.

"The stars sure are pretty aren't they," Kuroo commented.

"Yeah," Kageyama said hoarsely, "Yeah, they are."

After a few more moments, they stepped inside, Kageyama was reluctant, all he wanted to do was look up at the stars, but Kuroo gently guided him inside.

"I'm sorry," Kuroo told him, "I'm so sorry, but it's dark and cold outside."

"It's dark and cold everywhere," Kageyama responded. No one said anything. Kenma handed Kageyama a mug of hot chocolate.

"This may be a little strange for summer, but chocolate always makes me feel better," he said.

"Thanks," Kageyama murmured. He took a sip of the hot liquid. It was good, it tasted slightly of peppermint and he liked the feeling of the warmth trickling down his throat.

"I have something for you too," Kuroo told him. He went into the other room and got a box.

"This is all Hinata's stuff from the hospital," Kuroo explained, "I thought you might want it." Kageyama stared at the box, his mug raised halfway to his lips, the hot chocolate already in his stomach settling like a weight. After a minute, he set down his mug and took the box.

"Is there a room for me to stay in?" Kageyama asked quietly. Kuroo nodded and directed him down a hallway to a plain looking bedroom. Kageyama stepped in and closed the door without saying a word. He set the box down and took a deep breath before opening it. On top was Kageyama's t-shirt. He picked it up and held it his face. It still smelled like Hinata. He held it close, wishing Hinata was actually here. He set in in his lap and took out the next thing: the stuffed dog. It was ugly and he hated its name, but it was the closest he'd ever get to having a pet with Hinata. He set that down too, and picked up Hinata's phone. He turned it on and saw the wallpaper of him and Hinata smiling and hugging. This hurt so much. The last thing in the box was the journal. Kageyama's hands trembled as he picked that up. He flipped to the first page and saw his drawing of Hinata. He couldn't handle this. He wanted to destroy his drawing, and his entries. They just reminded him more of his sadness. He threw it across the room.

It didn't get damaged, but it hit the wall with a smack and fell open to the last half of the journal. The pages it opened to were covered in writing. That was weird. Kageyama didn't remember getting that far. He moved across the room and grabbed the journal. It wasn't his handwriting either. He recognized it though. It was Hinata's. Kageyama's heart started beating faster. He found the page where Hinata's writing began, and started reading.

'Hey, hopefully I'm showing this to you several years in the future, and I just pulled it out because I thought it would be funny to look back on. Maybe we have a dog, maybe we're married, maybe we even have kids. Although, you might be seeing this for a different reason, my least favorite of the two options in fact, and that would be that I'm dead.' The last word was wobbly and smudged as if Hinata had had trouble writing it. 'Now, I really hope it's not that, but it might be. I just told you I had an aneurysm, and you're freaking out. For good reason, I know, but there's still a chance it might go away. If it doesn't and I, well, you know. Wow, this is a lot harder than I anticipated. I'll come back to this.' Kageyama turned the page and read the next entry.

'This might actually turn out okay! I'm back from the hospital and everything seems normal again. Right now, you're brushing your teeth, so I have I little bit of time to write while you're busy. I'm watching you though, I don't think you see me, but oh my god I love you. You look perfect, even when you're just waking up. I'm a lucky guy, there's no doubt about that. I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you.' Kageyama had to bite back some tears at that line, because Hinata had gotten to do that, just not how he expected. Kageyama swallowed and continued reading. 'I love you. I know I'm rambling and I've said that a lot, but I don't think I'd ever be able to say it enough for you to truly understand how much I care for you. I know that all the time you feel like I'm lying to you and I actually hate you, and that hurts me so much, because above all else I want you to know that you're my favorite person. I really hope you feel the same about me. I'm so happy we found each other.' That was the end of that entry so Kageyama moved onto the next one.

'Hi, it's me again, your boyfriend, Hinata, in case you forgot. it still looks like there's hope, I haven't been having any issues and we're making plans for college! I'm looking forward to college, not because of schoolwork, but because we'll finally be able to move in together. We see each other all the time so we basically live together already, but I'm excited to make it official. It's hard to believe I've only been dating you for a few months, because I already want to marry you. Maybe you'll propose after college, if you haven't by then, I guess I'll have to do it. At the moment you're making dinner, which is really nice, even if you're burning it, but I appreciate the thought, and that's why I made a backup dinner in case this happened. I love that you do things for me, even when you're not entirely comfortable with it. You're so special, and once again, I love you. Now, I'd better go in there, and help you, to see if there's any chance we can salvage this meal.' Kageyama took a few seconds before looking at the next entry. He knew what was going to happen, but that didn't make it hurt any less.

'Well, all is not okay anymore. I'm in the hospital again. You're in the bathroom right now, and you seem determined not to leave my side, which makes me unbelievably happy, but it also means that now is probably the only chance I'll get to write this. First off, I'm scared. I think I might die soon. I'm not ready. I'm not ready to go. I didn't get to do everything I wanted; I didn't get to spend enough time with you. At least you're here, I know you won't leave me, and I know this is hard for you too. I'm so sorry, I didn't mean for this. I'm so grateful you're staying with me. I don't want to spend my last moments by myself, and you're making sure that I get at least that. Please Kageyama, if I do die, don't let it ruin your life. I want you to be able to find happiness. Even if that means moving on and falling in love with someone else. Wow, even saying that is making me jealous. God, I want you to be happy but I feel so protective of you. I want you to remember me, just please don't destroy yourself. I know how much you can overthink things and let it take over your mind, and I won't be there to tell you to stop it. I want you to be able to find joy, because most of all, I love you. I may not get to say it to you anymore soon, so I'm going to say it as much as a can before I go. I love you. I love your sense of humor, I love your smile, I love the way you call me a dumbass, I love your hugs, I love your kisses, I love genuinely everything about you. Once more, for good measure: I love you.' Kageyama touched the words. That was where Hinata's writing stopped. Kageyama's tears started splashing down on the page, and he closed the journal to make sure he didn't smudge the writing. Kenma was right, Hinata didn't want Kageyama to kill himself. That didn't mean Kageyama didn't still miss him so much, but he would go on living, no matter how painful it was, because it's what Hinata wanted. He still wished Hinata were here. Kageyama wanted so badly to be able to hug him. He leaned against the end of the bed and stared at the ceiling. It was so hard for him to want to be here, to want to exist, but he'd do anything for Hinata, even if it was difficult. He needed a break from the world though, he climbed into the bed and closed his eyes.

He dreamed about spending time with Hinata. They weren't doing much, just sitting together without saying anything, but it still made him sleep well. He woke up abruptly many hours later, but he didn't know why. He sat alone, starting to cry. He realized he heard something through the door of his room, that must be the reason he'd woken up. It was Kenma yelling at a game. He must be streaming. That just made Kageyama cry harder, because he remembered spending so many days watching the streams with Hinata.

After a minute, Kenma knocked on the door, "Hey, you're being kind of loud, I'd get Kuroo, but he's out right now." The door opened slowly. Kenma surveyed Kageyama with a worried expression, "Um, I don't really know what to do for you, but do you want to play games with me?" he asked tentatively.

Kageyama wiped away his tears and tried to regain he composure, "Sure. I don't really play video games though, so I probably won't be very good."

"That's alright. I'm pretty patient." Kageyama was very wary of that, but he still followed Kenma out of the room. Kenma pulled up a chair for Kageyama, introduced him to the audience, and pointed out where the camera was.

"Okay, I know you're going through some shit, but I don't know how to console you, so I won't be treating you any differently," Kenma told Kageyama as he handed him a controller. Kageyama hadn't been lying about being bad at video games, but Kenma had been lying about being patient.

"I didn't know you were going to be this bad!" He exclaimed, "We're going to lose!" Kageyama didn't get upset though. There was something strangely comforting to him about being yelled at by a small angry boy. Kageyama just tried to do better, but it became even more difficult when Peanut Butter came over and curled up in his lap. Kenma glanced down, "Of course that little bastard likes you."

Kageyama shifted, he wasn't expecting it to like him, "Why did you call him that? I thought you liked cats."

"I do. It's an endearing term for him. Only him though," he turned towards the camera, "when I call you guys bastards, I'm definitely not trying to be nice." Kageyama looked at Kenma, he was a bit odd, but that was alright. He was glad Kenma and Kuroo could be his friends, it was good to have some sort of company right now. He hoped that he hadn't been too mean to them earlier. Kageyama focused back on Kenma, who was now flipping off his computer, "Dammit, we lost!" He sighed and turned off the camera, "Well, I'll see you later I guess." He got up and awkwardly patted Kageyama on the head. Then, went off towards the couch, flopped down, and pulled out his phone.

Kageyama wandered into the kitchen. There was a bowl of fruit on the counter, and Kageyama grabbed an orange. Before thinking, he began to peel it and split it in half. Then he stopped himself as he realized he had no one to split it with. Now he was surrounded by the smell of oranges and half an orange in both hands. It was almost too much for him to handle. He felt his eyes start watering once again. He bit his lip hard to try and stop himself, but it didn't work, and now he tasted blood.

He made a split-second decision, got up, pulled on a coat, and, with the orange still in hand, ran out of the apartment. He had a destination in mind, but it was pretty far away, so even though he was running as fast as he could it was going to take him a while. On his way, he passed through a park, and decided to pick some flowers to bring along with him, and then continued running. After about an hour, he reached the beach. It was the beach where him and Hinata had had their first date. He walked out onto the pier while eating his half of the orange. Once he got to the water, he sat down and let his legs dangle. He kissed the other half of the orange and threw it in the water with the flowers.

"I won't ever forget you, Hinata."

**Author's Note:**

> If you need something to recover from this, I do have a version of this story with a happy ending posted.
> 
> I tried my best to get all the medical stuff accurate, I don't know if it is, especially because I don't really know about the inner workings of hospitals, but I hope it's at least close. Also, I wrote the car crash scene from Hinata's perspective as well. There wasn't really a reason for it, but if you're interested, here it is:  
> Hinata watched Kageyama step out into the street, he didn't look both ways, but Hinata did. It was a habit that had been ingrained in him since he was a small child. He expected there would be nothing to worry about because the lights had changed to allow them to cross, but he did it anyway. He gasped, there was a car coming straight for Kageyama that looked like it had no intention of stopping.  
> "Kageyama! No!" Hinata yelled as he darted across the street to push Kageyama out of the way. He was able to get Kageyama clear of the car's path, but unfortunately, Hinata couldn't do the same for himself. The driver of the car slammed on their brakes at the last second, but it wasn't enough. It collided with Hinata, causing him to be thrown into the air for a moment and then hitting the ground a few feet away. The solid asphalt was not a very good place to land, and Hinata slid for a second feeling it tear up his skin. He'd also knocked his head pretty good and his hair was warm and wet with blood. He was in immense pain, and could feel himself slipping in and out of consciousness.  
> He heard Kageyama come over and exclaim, "Hinata? Are you okay? Hinata, please speak to me." Hinata tried to respond, but he couldn't even open his eyes, much less speak. He vaguely remembered Kageyama yelling something after that, and being carried somewhere. The thing that brought him back was the sound of Kageyama crying. He opened his eyes and tried to look at Kageyama's face, but his vision wouldn't focus.  
> "Kageyama?" He asked. Kageyama continued crying but Hinata felt Kageyama take his hand.  
> In between sobs Kageyama managed, "I'm here for you." Hinata wanted to say something back, but it was so hard to do anything.  
> Eventually, Hinata was able to respond, "I love you." Each word took so much effort, but he forced himself to say it anyway.  
> Kageyama gave Hinata a hug, "I love you too." That was the last thing Hinata heard before he slipped unconscious.


End file.
